LINCOLN – Lourdes Central Catholic in Nebraska City placed second in its category at the Nebraska Academic Decathlon state competition Feb. 16-17.

Lourdes won nine individual state medals at state. Cora Krog and Evie Dorman medaled in the honors division and Krog won gold in music and speech. Krog was the school’s top scorer.

Coach Tammy Partsch said students began working on this year’s theme of “humanity and technology” last summer.

Here is the school’s press release

Ten students from Lourdes Central Catholic competed in the Nebraska Academic Decathlon State Competition held at the University of Nebraska Omaha on February 16 and 17 and brought home major hardware, placing 2nd in the Very Small Schools category, designated as schools with enrollment of up to 126 in grades 9-12. The Lourdes team also placed 3rd in the Small Schools category, which expands to include schools with an enrollment under 650.

“It was very gratifying to see that our hard work paid off,” said Tammy Partsch, the head coach of the Lourdes Academic Decathlon team. “We started working our way through the curriculum last summer and it was all for this.”

As part of the State Competition, Lourdes Academic Decathlon team members test across the standard curriculum of Art, Literature, Music, Science, Economic, Social Science, and Math under the umbrella of a theme that changes each year. The theme for 2023-24 was “Humanity & Technology.” Each team member receives the same test; however, the tests are scored and ranked based on a student’s GPA. Regular team members also write an essay, give prepared and impromptu speeches, and sit for an interview.

The Lourdes Academic Decathlon team earned nine individual medals at State.

Earning medals for the main team in the HONORS Division (GPA of 3.8-4.0) were senior Cora Krog and junior Evie Dorman. Krog earned gold in Music and Speech and was the Top Scorer for Lourdes at the competition. Dorman earned silver in Interview and bronze in Speech.

Main team SCHOLASTIC Division students (GPA of 3.2 to 3.79) who medaled included senior Lucy Chaney and sophomore Drue Weeda. Chaney took bronze in Interview and Weeda took bronze in Music, Literature, and Science.

Other main team members not medaling included Honors Division student Rebekah Vaverek, senior, Scholastic Division sophomore Eli Buggi, and Varsity Division (GPA of 0.0 to 3.19) juniors Kellen Barker, Sarah Gygi, and Ethan Bruggeman.

Alternate team members also tested under the same subjects. The Honors alternate was Kadence White. White, a junior, earned silver in the Soft Sciences, a combination of Literature and Economics.

The Lourdes Academic Decathlon team is coached by Tammy Partsch and Tom Dinville. The theme for the 2024-2025 school year will be announced by the United States Academic Decathlon organization on March 1.

 

Lourdes Central photo:  (Back Row L-R) Kellen Barker, Ethan Bruggeman, Drue Weeda, Eli Buggi (Front Row L-R): Kadence White, Sarah Gygi, Cora Krog, Rebekah Vavarek and Evie Dorman. Not pictured: Lucy Chaney