Front, from left: Coaches Dana Schroeder and Aaron Ratliff (not pictured, Coach Mark Aurand). Second row: Harmoni Osmanski, Poe Htoo, Isabella Gutierrez and Abby Ratliff. Third row: Danny Saldana, Leilany Carasco, Karla Sanchez and Leo Martin. Back row: Quincy Mahrt, Diego Cid, Alan Rivera and Tyson Stoppel. Submitted Photo

Denison High School competed in its 40th straight State Academic Decathlon (AD) Tournament on Friday, March 1, and Saturday, March 2, at Cedar Rapids Kennedy High School.

The Denison team placed third in the small school division. Union placed first in the small school division and Mason City placed second, edging Denison out by less than 100 points.

Cedar Rapids Jefferson was the top scoring large school. Cedar Rapids Jefferson, Union and Mason City will be representing Iowa in the national competition in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on April 25-27.

Following are the individual results for the Denison team.

Honors Division: Quincy Mahrt, 4,909.3 points; Danny Saldana, 4,301.4; Abby Ratliff, 4,201.8

Scholastic Division: Tyson Stoppel, 5,557; Poe Htoo, 4,908.6; Diego Cid, 4,132.9

Varsity Division: Leo Martin, 4,483.2; Harmoni Osmanski, 4,380.0; Alan Rivera, 3,197.1

Alternates: Karla Sanchez, 2,672.5; Isabella Gutierrez, 2,609.6; Leilany Carrazco, 2,594.3

Highlights

Tyson Stoppel was the top overall scorer in the Scholastic Division. He placed first in four of the 10 subjects – economics, literature, science and social science.
Leo Martin was the second overall scorer in the Varsity Division. He placed first in math, essay and science, placed second in economics and placed third in art.
Leilany Carrazco was the top overall scorer in the Alternate Scholastic Division.
Danny Saldana in the Honors Division earned two medals for third places in speech and interview.
Diego Cid in the Scholastic Division placed third in math and essay.
Poe Htoo, also in the Scholastic Division, received a second place medal in art.
Alan Rivera in the Varsity Division placed second in music.
Harmoni Osmanski, also in the Varsity Division, placed first in music, second in math and science and third in literature.

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The Denison High School Academic Decathlon team is coached by Aaron Ratliff in the subject areas of economics, math, science, speech, interview and essay; Mark Aurand in social science, art, music and essay; and Dana Schroeder in literature.

Ratliff offered the following comments on the team’s performance: “We missed qualifying for the national competition by less than 100 points, which is an extremely slim margin in an Academic Decathlon competition.

“Special recognition should go to Leo Martin who improved his overall total by over 1,400 points. Poe Htoo increased her score by over 700 points. Both worked hard this year. Seven of our nine competitors medaled to make this a successful season for us. One of our freshmen this year, Harmoni Osmanski, placed fourth overall, which is an incredible feat in her first year.

“These are all underclassmen that will come back next year for what should be another successful season.

“We will have to say goodbye to seniors Alan Rivera and Quincy Mahrt. Quincy, in his sophomore season, placed first in the Varsity Division, moved up the next year to the Scholastic Division and placed first again. The move up to the highest division, Honors, was a rough one this year. He will be difficult to replace.”

In the State Academic Decathlon, the top scoring schools from around the state are invited to compete, and this year’s competition included 187 high school students competing for medals and trophies.

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