JMHS ACADEMIC DECATHLON

HALL OF FAME

Just as baseball started its Hall of Fame in 1936, and other sports and professions somewhat later, it is definitely time for Marshall to start its Academic Decathlon Hall of Fame. I have made it very rigorous to enter- the qualifications are: scoring at least 8000 points in an official Academic Decathlon competition or finishing in the top 3 scorers overall in Los Angeles competition! (Or in the top 3 in the state or the nation). In the past 18 years, 25 Marshall students qualified under these conditions, which is really amazing when you think about it!! It also leaves out a lot of great Marshall medal winners! Here are the original Hall of Fame members, in alphabetical order:

KRISTINE ACOSTA- Kristine scored 8,078 points in the 2003 State competition. She was the team’s top scorer at the 2002 State competition and is one of the top Scholastics ever with a total of 12 medals. Kristine is an undergraduate at UC Berkeley.

PAUL AUERBACH- Paul was the #2 Scholastic in the nation (1995) with 8,350 points. Paul won a total of 19 medals in the Decathlon, including the Gold Medal in Science at City, State, and Nation. He was graduated from UC Riverside, and is now working on a PhD at the Harvard School of Public Health and Biological Research.

*Yang Bai to be added

*Charles Burden to be added

MICHAEL CARNOW- Michael was the team’s top scorer in the 2003 state competition with 8,265 points. He was the #3 Honors student in the LAUSD competition, and won a total of 10 medals in competition, including the Gold Medal in Math at LAUSD, first ever for a Marshall student. Michael is entering Brandeis University.

TERRY COLBERG- Terry was one of only four students in Los Angeles to break 8000 in 2003, when he scored 8,015 to finish as #3 Scholastic. In two consecutive years, Terry scored a perfect 10 on the Relay Super Quiz, and won 6 Super Quiz medals altogether. He was the team’s top scorer in LAUSD 2002, and amassed 16 medals on his way to UCLA.

MATTHEW ELSTEIN- Matthew was the #2 Scholastic in Los Angeles in 1986, and was a key member of the first Marshall National Championship team. He won a total of 16 medals in City, State, and Nation. Matthew is now an attorney specializing in business and property-related litigation.

JAMES EVRARD- James was the #1 Varsity in the Nation in 1995 with a score of 8,275 points. He was also the #1 Varsity in LAUSD that year. James won a total of 27 medals, including the Gold medal in Science at City and Nation. He attended UC Santa Barbara briefly before going to live in the wilderness of Yellowstone Park. (Really!)

DAVID FLOREY- David was the legendary Varsity who became the top overall scorer in the nation in 1987 with 8500 points. He had also been the #1 Varsity at City and State, and garnered 28 medals in his amazing year. David was graduated from UC Berkeley, and is a representative of the Extropia Corporation headquartered in Singapore.

TAERYN KIM- Taeryn was the #3 Scholastic in LA in 1996, leading the team to a #2 finish, and seeded #2 in the State (The last year with no invited teams!!!!) Taeryn earned 7 medals, including a perfect 1000 in the Speech. She is the last Marshall student to compete in the National Speech Finals. Taeryn completed her bachelor’s degree at UC Berkeley, and is working on a doctorate in pharmaceutical science at UC San Francisco.

DOUG KLEVEN- Doug was the #2 Varsity in LA in 1994, and was a key member of the 1995 national champion team. He earned 14 medals in competition, before heading off to his Mormon mission. Doug has recently finished his degree in Business at Brigham Young University, and is working on a CPA program.

ELSIE LAU- Elsie was #1 Varsity at State in 1995. She was #5 in Nation and was vital in the team’s success there as well. Elsie won 15 medals total, and is probably the best writer ever to participate on a Marshall team. She graduated from Boston University, and is now a journalist for the Washington Post syndicate.

KAMI LEBARIDIAN- Kami was the #1 Varsity in LAUSD in 1995, surprising everyone except the 27 relatives he invited to the awards banquet. He is noted for winning the Gold Medal in Language and Literature without ever reading the book!!!! (DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME!) In his two years of participation, Kami won 11 medals. He has attended classes at many institutions of higher learning, and has also pursued careers in writing, video store management, and the study of oxygen narcosis.

SUNG LEE- Sung scored over 8000 points on 3 occasions, including a #5 ranking in the US as an Honors in 1995, scoring 8,530 points. Sung is probably the top Super Quiz performer ever, scoring a perfect 10 (actually 15,10,5, and 15) in all four Relays in which he participated. Sung garnered 24 medals in the Honors category! He completed his degree at the United States Military Academy (West Point), and in 2003 is commanding American troops in Kosovo.

DANIEL MASAOKA- Dan was the #2 Varsity in LA in 2001, and the team’s top scorer (beating out the Valedictorian and Salutatorian). His performance was a key in the team’s #2 finish in City and #4 in State (ranked #6 in US). Dan received 10 medals for his labor. He is now attending UC Santa Cruz.

ETHAN McKINNEY- Ethan was the #3 Honors in LA in 1986, and the top scorer for the City Champion team that went on to win the Nationals. He scored 8,366 points in LAUSD competition. Ethan earned a degree in political science from UC Berkeley, did some graduate work at MIT, and is now a technical writer in Long Beach.

GIOVANNI MEJIA- Gio is the first Marshall student to finish as the #1 Honors in LA, with his 2003 score of 8,170 points!! Viewed as the perfect Decathlete for attitude, equanimity, and work habits by his coaches, Gio won 10 medals, and even improved his score at State to 8,245. He is an entering student at UC Berkeley.

MASAKI MIYAGAWA- Masaki is, of course, the Scholastic who “ran the table”, winning #1 in City, State, and Nation in 1994-1995. He showed incredible consistency, scoring 8530, 8408, and 8465 in the three competitions. Masaki won 32 medals, including 8 Gold Medals in 10 subjects at the National finals. He attended UCLA, majoring in Chinese Studies, and is also pursuing his expertise in the field of world music.

STEVE NA- Steve broke the 8000 barrier 4 times (!), while finishing #3 in LAUSD Honors, and #3 in the US in 1995. His top score of 8740 is the #2 all-time Marshall score. Steve won 27 medals, including 3 perfect Super Quiz scores, 3 Math medals, and 2 Gold Medals in Speech. Steve is a graduate of Cal Tech, and works as a software engineer in Arizona. *to be updated

CHRISTOPHER NICHELSON- Christopher was the #2 Varsity in Los Angeles and the US in 1986-87. Chris is presently a property developer and professional card player.

JOHN POTAPENKO- John was the #2 Scholastic in Los Angeles in 1999 with a score of 8,284 points. This result included a perfect 1000 on the Essay, the only Marshall student ever to accomplish that feat. John is a true intellectual, reading The Brothers Karamazov for light summer entertainment, for example. He is now a student at UC Berkeley, pursuing knowledge in the field of astrophysics.

ANATOL TSANG- Anatol scored 8,453 in the state finals of 2004. He was also a gold medallist in math with a perfect score in both city and state(!), and won the Perryman Award for highest econ score in LA city in 2004. *to be updated

ANN ROSE VAN- Ann is the all-time record holder in many of the Decathlon categories for Marshall, and is still spoken about with awe by many of her teammates and friends. Ann scored a Marshall record 8,774 points in 1994, as the #2 Honors in LA. Then she scored 8,750 to become the #1 scorer in the State. She is the only Marshall student to qualify for the National Speech showcase (top Honors speech in the US). Ann won a record 44 medals, including perfect scores in Super Quiz (3 times), Speech, and Science. Ann matriculated at Stanford with specialties in biology and computer science, and is now designing software that uses amino acids as the basis for a new programming language.

STEPHANIE VAN- Stephanie was the #3 Varsity in LA in 2001, and #4 in the State. Stephanie won 12 medals, including the Gold Medal in Literature at both City and State. Her speech on our control of our own destiny is one of the great Decathlon speeches. She is now a student at UC Santa Cruz.

BEN WAY- Ben scored exactly 8,400 in the state finals of 2004, one of the top ten scores in Marshall history. He was a medallist in Literature and Math in the City Competition, and is considered one of the best impromptu speakers in Marshall history.

BEN WOLF- Ben was the #1 Scholastic in LAUSD in 1986 with a score of 8,076. He won 22 medals in 1986-1987. More information forthcoming.

MICHAEL WONG- Michael scored over 8000 twice, in 1995 and 1996, with a high score of 8,367. Michael won 10 medals, including two consecutive years in Economics and Fine Arts, and one perfect Super Quiz score. He attended UC Berkeley briefly, and is now a part-time student in Los Angeles, and an aspiring professional card player.

SUI SUM WONG- Sui was the Marshall star in the year 2000, scoring over 8000 in City (8,025) and State (8,280), and winning 7 medals. She is known for her incredible learning curve (going from 880 to 1520 on the SAT, for example),her ubiquitous post-it notes, and her perfect score on the written Super Quiz at State (40/40), an unprecedented feat. Sui is an engineering major at Columbia, and is the Technical Advisor to an MIT-Columbia research group which is accelerating the integration of communication and technology.

KENT YEE- Kent is known for his intense work habits and making weaknesses into strengths. He peaked at 2003 State finals, scoring 8,245 points. Kent won 8 medals, including Golds in Literature and Speech(!) Kent is entering UC San Diego in the Fall of 2003.

II. OTHER DECATHLON NOTES

A. SIBLINGS- 4 pairs of siblings have participated on Marshall teams, though never in the same years. They are ANN VAN (1993-1995) and STEPHANIE VAN (1999-2001); PETER WAY (2000) and BEN WAY (2004); KATHLEEN YEE (1998-99) and KENT YEE (2001-2003); KANNIE YU (1996) and AMY YU(1998-1999).
B. COMMON NAME- Three last names have been represented 3 times: KIM (Taeryn 1996, Eun Hee 1999, Susie 2000); LEE (Amy 1992, Sung 1994-1995, Hyun Joo 2000) and WONG (Michael 1995-1996, Shirley 2000, Sui Sum 2000). *to be added
C. HONORS- 3 Valedictorians (Lisa Jacobs 2001, Lilit Kazangyan 2003, Muriel Payan 2004) have participated in Decathlon, and 5 Salutatorians (Ann Van 1995, Sung Lee 1996, Corie Cobb 1997, Patty Ho 1999, Susan Song 2001). Only once was it both (2001).
D. COACHES- The following have been Marshall Decathlon coaches, with years and # of medals won: MARY SORTINO 1981-1985 (27), DAVID TOKOFSKY 1986 (38), RON WENDEROFF 1987 (0), HARUO AOKI 1988-1991 (19), PHIL CHASE 1992-2001 (312), MICHAEL JONES/LARRY WELCH 2001-2003 (62), LARRY WELCH 2004 (17). LAUSD medals only. *to be updated
E. HEIGHT- The tallest Marshall Decathlete was probably PAUL AUERBACH (6’2) with the shortest probably SUI SUM WONG (4’10).
F. GOING AWAY- The Decathlete who moved the farthest after high school moving to higher education was probably ETAN ANTHONY (1993) who studied at a kibbutz in Israel (8,033 miles), while the one who stayed the closest was probably VIKI HATTEMER (Montes) (1993) who went to Occidental College (5.1 miles) and now teaches at Marshall.
G. SHORT-NAME TEAM- The team of 3 Honors, Scholastics, and Varsity with the shortest last names would be STEVE NA, AMY YU, KANNIE YU, MARIA DY, TAERYN KIM, KENT YEE, ELSIE LAU, JAMES SUK, STEPHANIE VAN. *Jenny Su/Jacqueline Yu to be added
H. LONG-NAME TEAM- The long-name team would be DIANA NESKOVSKA, LILIT KAZANGYAN, JOHN MOVSISIAN, SERGE MUKHAMEDIANOV, KIMLER GUTIERREZ, MASAKI MIYAGAWA, LESLYN DE LOS SANTOS, JACKIE SAUCEDA-RIVERA, KAMI LEBARIDIAN. .