The crowd was hushed. The tension was high. The competitors only had several seconds to make their play. And then, the crowd erupted with applause and cheers. So was the scene at the Academic Decathlon’s Super Quiz on Sunday afternoon. This portion of the competition yielded a variety of reactions from the crowd gathered in the theater at CCRI. In front of their parents and peers, student competitors had several seconds to answer multiple-choice questions likes, “The role of Tatya Tope in the 1857 Rebellion was as?”
With the stakes at their highest, correct answers prompted cries of joy, and incorrect guesses earned dejected silence from the crowd.
But it was only a few hours later that most of the students at the 29th Rhode Island Academic Decathlon wore smiles of success on their faces. After the Super Quiz and a brief recess at which students ate pizza and danced to Lady Gaga hits, the 17 teams reconvened to accept their awards.
Dozens of bronze, silver and gold medals were handed out to students from various institutions, but there could only be one overall winner. Which team would take home the 4-foot trophy that sat on the awards table?
The top three teams gathered on the stage to find out if it would be East Greenwhich, Johnston or Bishop Hendricken High School. Once East Greenwich was congratulated as the third place winner, the audience held its collective breath.
And then, second place was awarded to Johnston. Although they had hoped for first place, the supporters of Johnston burst into applause, and the school mascot, the Panther, jumped for joy.
The team was lost in a throng of hugs, handshakes and high-fives when they rejoined their supporters. A second Johnston team took home fourth place.
Had their hard work paid off? They nodded in unison.
The members of the JHS decathlon team met every day after school since November in preparation for Sunday’s competition. Their hard work paid off not only for the team as a whole, but also for the individual members.
Brendan Chadwick won gold for math, gold for top score in the Super Quiz, silver for economics, gold for music, gold for language and literature, silver for science, silver for art and gold for overall top score. Zulmy Coretz won silver for language and literature and gold for art. Ian Tvenstrup won silver in interview and bronze for music. Elyse Varone won bronze for essay.
Molly Rajsombath won gold for top score in the Super Quiz, silver for economics, gold for language and literature, silver for art and silver in overall top score. Vanessa Sullivan won silver for top score in the Super Quiz, bronze for economics, silver for language and literature and bronze for art. Julia Simoneau won silver for language and literature and bronze for art. Victoria Antonucci won silver for top score in the Super Quiz and silver for economics. Joshua Oliviera won silver for economics, silver for speech, gold for music and bronze in overall top score. Gary Swider won gold for music and Yvette Zeng won bronze for music. Johnston also had the highest team score for the Super Quiz.
Johnston also would have won for best team spirit if there were a category for it. The school had the loudest and largest cheering section, which was padded not only by contestants and coaches, but also by non-competing peers.
Danielle Gawlik and Victoria Cioffi, both JHS seniors, were among those to come out to support their classmates.
“A lot of them are seniors,” said Gawlik, who was holding a “Go Johnston” sign. “We have a lot of school spirit. I think they did really well.”
After the Super Quiz, students were invited to mingle and eat pizza in the great hall of CCRI. Seniors Molly Rajsombath and Victoria Antonucci reflected on the competition while pop music blared over the sound system.
“The wording of the questions in the Super Quiz was ridiculous,” said Rajsombath, who found that portion tricky. “The interview questions were more reflective and introspective.”
Both girls said their past experiences at the Decathlon helped to prepare them for this year’s competition.
“We’re used to the routine,” said Antonucci.
“Some material is exactly the same,” said Rajsombath.
At that time, neither student knew how they had done in the competition.
“I hope they would at least see our effort,” said Antonucci.
During the awards ceremony, it was clear that the judges had.
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