FISD High Schools Take Top Spots at Regional Academic Decathlon (January, 2006)
The title of the book could be “A Tale of Two High Schools,” or “The FISD Dynasty.”
This past weekend, the Centennial High School Academic Decathlon team, in only its third year of competition and its first year with seniors, claimed the Regional Championship, and Frisco High School, which has advanced from regional competition to state the past nine years, took second place at the 4A Region VIII Academic Decathlon Competition at North Crowley High School.
Centennial is ranked third and FHS is ranked fourth, as they advance to statewide competition with other medium-sized high schools. Friendswood is ranked number one in the medium schools and New Caney is ranked second.
Centennial head coach Dr. Derek McDowell couldn’t be more proud of the Titan team.
“Our team established this championship as a goal in April of last year when we started preparing for this weekend. The team truly came together in the weeks leading up to the competition. The students got together as a group on their own outside of scheduled practice time and really helped each other improve. Being in one of the most competitive regions of Academic Decathlon, with Frisco High School advancing from the region for the previous 9 years in a row and consistently finishing in the top 5 at State, we knew we had our work cut out for us. I couldn’t have asked for more effort in preparing or a better performance from our kids.”
Superintendent Rick Reedy was very excited for the students and the coaches.
“Both achievements are especially noteworthy in that CHS wins regional in its very first year to have seniors on its team and FHS qualifies for state for the tenth consecutive year by virtue of finishing first or second in regional. A hearty congratulations goes out to coaches Scott Greenwood of FHS and Dr. Derek McDowell of CHS and to the exceptional young people who have brought this honor and recognition to themselves, their schools, and our community,” he said.
Both teams will advance to the State Competition on February 24-25, 2006, in San Antonio and contend for a chance to represent Texas at the national level.
CHS Team members are Carlee Young (junior), An Qi (junior), and Linda Bi (senior) in the Honors division; Stephanie Holthaus (junior), Anna Bashmakov (sophomore), and Lizzy Crow (senior) in the Scholastic division;and Sadie Fossitt (senior), Alex Kleinschmidt (junior), and Jon Mark Howeth (senior) in the Varsity division. Team alternates were Analisa Packham and Stephanie Qin. The team is coached by Derek McDowell, Joanna Cone, and Steve Cone.
In addition to winning the Overall Team Gold Medal, the CHS team also took the gold medal in the other 2 team events, Super Quiz Overall and Super Quiz Relay. The team won 31 individual event medals, including 9 Gold, 12 Silver, and 10 Bronze.
FHS Coach Scott Greenwood takes great pride in the FHS team’s record of advancing to state. This will be the 10th year the FHS team has gone to state competition. It takes a huge commitment to make it to this level and to stay at this level of competition. The team is made up of the Varsity Division: Josh Smith (junior), JR Razmus (sophomore), and Farsheed Fozouni (senior); Scholastic “B” Division: John Kappel (junior), Alfred Larsen (junior), and Amanda Razmus (senior); and the Honors “A” Division: Chelsea Drescher (junior), Alex Holton (junior), and Steven Zhu (junior). Team Coaches are Scott Greenwood, Suzanne Sayer, Krista Wagner, Ken Finley, and Dorothy Finley.
Medals won by individual students include:
Centennial Titans:
Varsity Division
Sadie Fossitt- (9th place overall)
Gold in Speech (scored perfect 1000)
Silver in Music
Alex Kleinschmidt-(2nd place overall)
Gold in Interview and Science
Bronze in Art and Super Quiz
Jon Mark Howeth-(1st place overall)
Gold in Music and Economics
Silver in Essay, Interview, Speech, Art, and Super Quiz
Bronze in Science
Scholastic Division
Anna Bashmakov-(16th place overall)
Stephanie Holthaus-(9th place overall)
Lizzy Crow-(3rd place overall)
Silver in Mathematics, Economics, and Art
Bronze in Music, Science, Super Quiz
Honors Division
Carlee Young-(9th place overall)
Gold in Interview (scored perfect 1000)
Linda Bi- (4th place overall) Gold in Economics
Silver in Science
Bronze in Music and Super Quiz
An Qi-(2nd place overall)
Gold in Science and Super Quiz
Silver in Mathematics and Music
Bronze in Essay and Economics
Frisco Raccoons:
Varsity Division
Josh Smith- (5th place overall in Varsity category)
Gold Medal in Essay, Language & Literature; Bronze Medal in Economics;
JR Razmus- (7th place overall in Varsity category)
Gold Medals in Interview, Economics; Bronze Medal in Essay
Farsheed Fozouni- (4th place overall in Varsity category)
Silver Medal in Economics; Bronze Medals in Math, Interview
Scholastic Division
John Kappel - (4th place overall in Scholastic category)
Gold Medals in Speech, Interview, Science, Economics; Bronze in Math
Alfred Larson - 7th place overall in Scholastic category)
Silver Medal in Economics
Amanda Razmus - (12th place overall in Scholastic category)
Bronze Medal in Essay
Honors Division
Chelsea Drescher - (3rd place overall in Honors category—Bronze Medal)
Gold Medals in Math, Language & Literature; Silver Medals in Economics, Individual SuperQuiz; Bronze Medals in Interview, Music
Alex Holton - (5th place overall in Honors category) Gold Medal and perfect score in Interview; Silver Medals in Science, Music; Bronze Medal in Art
Stephen Zhu - (1st place overall in Honors category—Gold Medal)—Gold Medals in Speech, Music, Essay, Art; Silver Medal in Math; Bronze Medals in Science, Language & Literature
Ranking of Team Overall Scores
Centennial HS 40,548.4
Frisco HS 39,967.4
Hebron HS 39,540.0
John Paul II Catholic HS 33,915.3
Keller Central HS 31,123.4
Denton HS 29,297.2
Lancaster HS 29,282.5
Northwest HS 28,638.4
Crowley HS 28,325.1
Sequin HS 24,123.7
Waxahachie HS 21,765.3
State Bound Teams
| Rank |
Reg |
ISD |
School |
Score |
| 1 |
5 |
Friendswood ISD |
Friendswood High School*** |
43,457 |
| 2 |
6 |
New Caney ISD |
New Caney High School*** |
40,950 |
| 3 |
8 |
Frisco ISD |
Centennial High School*** |
40,548 |
| 4 |
8 |
Frisco ISD |
Frisco High School |
39,967 |
| 5 |
3 |
Alice ISD |
Alice High School*** |
39,840 |
| 6 |
8 |
Lewisville ISD |
Hebron High School |
39,540 |
| 7 |
6 |
Lamar Consolidated ISD |
Foster High School |
39,525 |
| 8 |
6 |
Montgomery ISD |
Montgomery High School |
38,864 |
| 9 |
12 |
Pine Tree ISD |
Pine Tree High School*** |
37,897 |
| 10 |
3 |
Tuloso-Midway ISD |
Tuloso-Midway High School |
36,792 |
| 11 |
11 |
Boerne ISD |
Boerne High School*** |
36,355 |
| 12 |
1 |
Lubbock ISD |
Estacado High School*** |
36,141 |
| 13 |
10 |
Highland Park ISD |
Highland Park High School*** |
36,051 |
| 14 |
4 |
Flour Bluff ISD |
Flour Bluff High School*** |
35,565 |
| 15 |
6 |
Lamar Consolidated ISD |
B.F. Terry High School |
35,240 |
| 16 |
11 |
Taylor ISD |
Taylor High School |
34,291 |
| 17 |
8 |
Private |
John Paul II |
33,915 |
| 18 |
4 |
San Antonio ISD |
Luther Burbank High School |
33,267 |
| 19 |
4 |
Edgewood ISD |
Memorial High School |
32,708 |
| 20 |
2 |
El Paso ISD |
El Paso High School*** |
32,610 |
| 21 |
5 |
Katy ISD |
Seven Lakes High School |
32,583 |
| 22 |
4 |
Alamo Heights ISD |
Alamo Heights High School |
32,576 |
| 23 |
4 |
San Antonio ISD |
Thomas Edison High School |
32,529 |
| 24 |
2 |
El Paso ISD |
Jefferson/Silva High School |
32,398 |
| 25 |
2 |
El Paso ISD |
Chapin High School |
32,393 |
