St. Andrew's Certamen Team Wins Second National Championship (updated)

7/31/2010

Eighteen members of the St. Andrew’s Latin Club participated in the 2010 National Junior Classical League convention at North Dakota State University in Fargo from July 26 to August 1. While all of the students excelled in their individual academic and art contests, the advanced certamen team won the National Certamen Championship.

In addition to their individual contests, students assembled for state fellowship meetings and general assemblies, where they competed to show their spirit. On the final day, students marched in the "Day in Old Rome" procession through campus while wearing their best Roman costumes along with approximately 1500 other Latin students from across the nation. This trip to the Midwest also included seeing the Mall of America in Minneapolis and a day of fun at Valleyfair Amusement park.

 

The advanced certamen team from St. Andrew’s, two-time defending state champions, represented the entire state of Texas in this very heated competition. Scott Dollen '11, Matthew Miller '10, Mason Osborn '11, and Reid Swanger '11 were the primary players, with Colin Vanderburg '11, Rachel Deleery '12, Ale Fairchild from Reagan in San Antonio, and Andrew Margrave from St. Mary’s Hall in San Antonio serving as alternates. (It is the prerogative of a state championship team to invite other outstanding players from around the state to play if they so choose.)

 

The team played three preliminary rounds on Wednesday and Thursday, racking up as many points as possible to gain a favorable position in the semifinal bracket. They advanced as the third seed into the semifinal where they played teams from New Hampshire and the certamen powerhouse Virginia. After a slow start against Virginia, the team pulled ahead to win by 70 for a place in finals. The team then faced two other certamen powerhouses, Wisconsin and Florida. Both the St. Andrew's team and Florida struggled to score early in the round as Wisconsin pulled ahead. 

 

Halfway through the match things began to turn around, and our boys gained confidence when Reid Swanger correctly answered a literature question on a great buzz. Soon after, Mason Osborn correctly answered a question about a lengthy Latin passage. (Mason answered the "passage" question correctly in every round of national competition. Quite an accomplishment!) Matthew Miller continued the rebound when he correctly guessed the end of a Latin translation on a very early buzz. With three questions left in the match, Scott Dollen answered a mythology question correctly and pulled his team into the lead. The final question was heart-stopping as Wisconsin signaled first but was unable to answer correctly and gain enough points for the win. Scott had buzzed in, but did not answer, realizing that the match was over. As Florida answered the final question, the Texas supporters were already celebrating knowing that our team had already won with a final score of Texas 90, Wisconsin 80, Florida 70.

Said Scott, "[The Wisconsin player] was a few syllables off, and as [moderator] Tom Reed pronounced her answer incorrect, I totally forgot that I had buzzed in. He called 'A1' a few times, and I don't really remember answering, just looking at Reid, and I heard him say, 'It doesnt matter, man, we won!' After that it was all just a blur until I came off the stage."

 

"These four all have the perfect combination of great ability, desire to win, willingness to work, and the capacity to have lots of fun while working very hard," said coach Jennie Luongo. "These kids have played together for so long that they can almost read each other's minds. That really helps when you have only 15 seconds to respond on bonus questions. They have also learned to trust each other implicitly to handle their categories. Finally, I've never seen them get angry or frustrated with each other during a round. If one of them is off, the others simply provide encouragement and pick up their game."

 

At the final awards ceremony the team received the Maureen O’Donnell memorial traveling trophy to bring home and a $500 prize to use as they please. Traditionally the winning team donates this monetary award to the charity of their choice. Our team chose one close to the heart of the St. Andrew’s community—The Gazelle Foundation—the benefits of which they described with pride in their acceptance speech to the entire assembly of convention attendees. Additionally, Matthew Miller was named Certamen MVP for his particularly impressive performance in the final match.

Video: National Championship Acceptance Speech

This is the second national certamen championship for St. Andrew’s students in the school’s history, the first having been just six years before, in 2004. Three of the members of that 2004 team who are now St. Andrew’s Latin teachers—Lauren Dill '04, Nathan Michaud '04, and Andrew Rist '05—served as coaches along with Latin department head Jennie Luongo. The team would also like to thank St. Andrew's alumnus Philip Swanger '08 for his help during practices before and during convention as well as their peers who attended practices and supported during the tournament. Of course the players are ultimately grateful to their wonderful and supporting parents who helped feed the team throughout the long hours leading up to their success this summer.

 

Additionally, there were many outstanding individual performances. Sarah Thompson, who served as Texas State JCL newsletter editor for the 2009-10 school year, received first place in the national publication contest. Ali Campion also placed tenth in overall creative arts sweepstakes. Reid Swanger placed fifth in decathlon, the most challenging test at the convention, and won $100 for that accomplishment.

 

Complete NJCL Contest Results:

FIRST PLACE
Dramatic Interpretation Poetry Level 3 Girls	Ali Campion
Roman Life Level 5	Scott Dollen
Reading Comprehension Poetry Level 5	Mason Osborn
Cartoons Grades 11-12	Colin Vanderburg
SECOND PLACE
Sight Latin Recitation Poetry Level 3 Girls	Ali Campion
Latin Grammar Advanced Level 5	Matthew Miller
Reading Comprehension Prose Level 5	Matthew Miller
Classical Art Level 5	Mason Osborn
Sight Latin Recitation Level 1 Girls	Catherine Pace
Roman History Level 5	Reid Swanger
THIRD PLACE
Mythology Level 5	Scott Dollen
Mottoes Level 5	Matthew Miller
Open Certamen Intermediate Level	Cameron Osborn
Latin Literature Level 5	Reid Swanger
Mottoes Level 5	Reid Swanger
FOURTH PLACE
Open Certamen Intermediate Level	Connor Butler
Classical Art Level 3	Rachel Deleery
Sight Latin Recitation Poetry Level 5 Boys	Matthew Miller
Latin Grammar Advanced Level 5	Mason Osborn
Dolls Grade 10	Catherine Pace
Ancient Geography Level 5	Reid Swanger
Roman Life Level 5	Reid Swanger
FIFTH PLACE
English Oratory Middle Division	Connor Butler
Greek Life and Literature Level 3	Rachel Deleery
Academic Decathlon	Reid Swanger
SIXTH PLACE
Essay Grade 9 Boys	Sam Andrews
Mythology Level 3	Rachel Deleery
Greek Life and Literature Level 5	Scott Dollen
Mottoes Level 5	Scott Dollen
Classical Art Level 5	Matthew Miller
Computer Enhanced Photography Grade 10	Emma Richardson
Academic Heptathlon Level 5	Reid Swanger
Reading Comprehension Prose Level 5	Reid Swanger
Reading Comprehension Prose Level 4	Colin Vanderburg
SEVENTH PLACE
Academic Decathlon	Scott Dollen
Latin Derivatives Level 5	Scott Dollen
Latin Literature Level 5	Scott Dollen
Roman Life Level ½	Colin Hancock
Latin Vocabulary Level 5	Matthew Miller
Latin Vocabulary Level 5	Mason Osborn
Latin Derivatives Level 5	Reid Swanger
Latin Derivatives Level 4	Colin Vanderburg
EIGHTH PLACE
Modern Myth – Middle Division	Rachel Deleery
Latin Vocabulary Level 5	Scott Dollen
Academic Heptathlon Level ½	Logan Giberson
Small Models Grades 7-9	Colin Hancock
Latin Derivatives Level 5	Mason Osborn
Hellenic History Level 5	Reid Swanger
Mythology Level 5	Reid Swanger
Reading Comprehension Poetry Level 5	Reid Swanger
NINTH PLACE
English Oratory – Lower Division	Sam Andrews
Greeting Cards Grade 10	Connor Butler
Academic Heptathlon Level 5	Scott Dollen
Roman History Level ½	Colin Hancock
Traditional Photography Grade 11	Mason Osborn
Latin Vocabulary Level 5	Reid Swanger
Classical Art Level 2	Trace Turner
Essay Grade 11 Boys	Colin Vanderburg
TENTH PLACE
Greek Life and Literature Level 4	Colin Vanderburg
Large Models (grade 7-9)	Logan Giberson