CHS won the state championship in the second-year and third-year divisions, and was runner-up in the fourth-year division at the Japanese Olympiad of Indiana at Ball State University in Muncie on Saturday. These were the fourteenth and fifteenth Japan Bowl/Japanese Olympiad state championships for CHS.

The Japanese Olympiad of Indiana is an academic competition for second, third and fourth-year students with categories including speaking, culture, kanji (Chinese characters), proverbs, listening, history, and onomatopoeic expressions.

The CHS third-year team of Chris Maatouk, Garrett Lee and Matt Lutze defeated Valparaiso and Indianapolis North Central in the final round to win the state championship for a second consecutive year. The other third-year team of Monika Segovia, Lilly Hull, and Natalie Wozniak finished in fourth place out of sixteen teams. Eve Miller was the third-year team alternate.

Michelle Stramel, Elena Levi and Sydney Shrum won the second-year division defeating Bloomington North and Michigan City. George Romero was the team’s alternate.

In the fourth-year division Addison Dempsay, Molly Cannon and Matrika Laster was runner-up. The team narrowly lost to Indianapolis North Central and defeated Michigan City in the final round. Jimmy Rogers was the fourth-year alternate.

Forty-six teams from fourteen high schools competed in this year’s competition. During the competition, team members had an opportunity to participate in Japanese modern and traditional cultural activities, which included art, movies, traditional games, and musical performances.

Posted 3/4/2013