Team captures another state title
By Jason Arndt
Editor
The Wilmot Union High School Academic Decathlon team didn’t just capture its eighth consecutive state title in a virtual competition.
The virtual competition held March 4-5 in the school auditorium, unlike previous years when the team traveled to the Wisconsin Dells, saw the squad win by largest margin of victory in any state contest.
Wilmot decathletes earned a total of 44 medals with each student taking home at least one.
Wilmot coach Don Serkowski, meanwhile, states the team’s next mission is the National Academic Decathlon also held virtually and not in-person as planned in Des Moines, Iowa.
Currently, this year’s team has accounted for the second highest score in school history, with nationals as the lone remaining competition.
An academic decathlon is a competition composed of ten categories: art, economics, essay, interview, language and literature, math, music, science, speech and social science.
In the state competition, according to Serkowski, the squad broke the state team record in social science with 5,640 total points out of a possible 6,000.
The new record supplanted the previous high of 5,300 points.
The team record requires six different decathletes, two from each of the three divisions, which consists of honors, scholastic and varsity.
“It’s going to be pretty much out of reach for anyone to break I think. The team really dialed in on that one test to try to set the record, maybe to the point of not studying other topics as much as they could have,” Serkowski said.
“We had a pretty big lead over the second place team which afforded us that luxury. As a result, they put an everlasting stamp on the Wisconsin record book.”
Serkowski noted two decathletes – sophomore Isaac Keen and senior Lydia Fielder – played key roles in the propelling the team to a state social science record.
Keen, who scored 980 of 1,000 possible points, set the state individual record in the honors division while Fielder notched a 960 in the scholastic division, which is also a record.
The social science category, meanwhile, will be the second subject Wilmot decathletes have put in the state record books followed by a 2019 milestone on the language and literature exam.
Meanwhile, on the music test, the team garnered two perfect scores of 1,000 from Keen and junior teammate Sydney Fontaine in the honors division.
Anna Carroll leads team, state
Senior Anna Carroll, who finished second overall in state as a junior, fared better this year and became the highest scoring decathletes on all events or categories in Wisconsin,
According to Serkowski, Carroll’s accomplishment could be the first time the overall top scorer came from scholastic division and not the honors division.
Carroll’s scores were consistently high across the board, Serkowski said, noting she earned a medal in all but one event.
“She can score high in any given subject, but her ability to hone her craft in all of them is what makes her such a great decathlete and the most incredible mentor to her teammates,” Serkowski said.
Carroll earned a $500 direct scholarship for her achievement.
Keen, meanwhile, wasn’t too far behind Carroll and finished second overall in state.
Serkowski said Carroll and Keen easily broke the 8,000-point threshold and could eclipse 9,000 in national competition.
Medalists
Honors Division
Sophomore Isaac Keen – Gold for overall top scorer; Individual gold medals in art, economics, literature, music, science, social science and super quiz.
Junior Sydney Fontaine – Individual gold medal in music; bronze in literature and science
Junior Isaac LaRose – Silver in social science
Scholastic Division
Senior Anna Carroll – Gold for overall top scorer; individual gold medals in art, economics, literature, math and music; silver in essay and social science; bronze in speech.
Senior Lydia Fielder – Bronze for overall top scorer; individuals gold medal in social science and bronze in art.
Senior Kort Visocnik – Individual silver medal in science.
Varsity Division
Senior Meadow Loveless – Gold for overall top scorer; individual gold medals in economic, science and social science; silver in music; bronze in art and literature.
Senior Iain McCutchan – Silver for overall top scorer; individual gold medals in art, literature and music; individual silver medal in social science; individual bronze in math and science.
Senior LuLu Cooper – individual bronze medals in social science and music.