CHESTERTON | Chesterton High School 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 on Saturday at Ball State University in Muncie.
Valparaiso High School’s third-year team placed second in the third-year division.
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 and history.
The CHS third-year team of Chris Maatouk, Garrett Lee and Matt Lutze defeated Valpo and Indianapolis North Central in the final round of the 16-team division. Valpo’s runner-up team consisted of Autumn Venekamp, Sariah Germain and Jeremy Reeves. In fourth place was Chesterton’s team of Monika Segovia, Lilly Hull and Natalie Wozniak.
CHS’s Michelle Stramel, Elena Levi and Sydney Shrum won the 16-team second-year division defeating Michigan City and Bloomington North in the final round. Valpo’s team of Mercedes Farias, Emily Owen and Matt Battista just missed the final round and finished in fourth place.
In the fourth-year division, Chesterton’s team of 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. Brenna Lill and Brett Odle placed fourth for Valpo out of 12 teams.
Forty-four teams from 14 high schools competed in this year’s event. 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.
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