LCWM Academic Decathlon Team Brings Home A Record Nine Medals at Nationals
Facing tough competition from across the United States, the LCWM Academic Decathlon team scored 27,721.0 points to finish 6th place in division five at the United States Academic Decathlon national competition in Garden Grove, California. A total of 58 teams competed in five divisions based upon each team’s state score. Granada Hills Charter School from California was the overall champion of the competition. There were a total of 689 students that competed at the 2026 national finals.
This year’s national competition marks LCWM’s most successful in school history. In addition to LCWM placing 6 th overall as a team, four students earned a total of nine individual national medals at the competition. Reese Anderson earned a gold national medal in music. Jake Wersal earned a bronze national medal in speech. Phena Jones earned two national medals - a bronze national medal in music and a silver national medal in literature. Karl Schwartz earned a record five national medals – bronze national medals in science and literature along with silver national medals in music, economics, and social science. These medals mark LCWM’s 19th – 27th national Academic Decathlon medals over the program’s history. Past national medal winners are Kiera Fredericksen with a bronze speech medal at the 2002 national competition in Phoenix, Arizona; Michael Coates with a bronze interview medal at the 2013 national competition in Minneapolis, Minnesota; Leah Jones with a bronze interview medal, Mason Jones with a silver interview medal, and Michael Coates with a silver economics medal at the 2014 national competition in Honolulu, Hawaii; Brady Swanson with silver medals in economics and science and Jake Ebargary with a silver medal in math at the 2017 national online competition, Grady Wolters with a bronze interview medal, Jake Ebargary with a gold interview medal, and Samuel Germscheid with a gold speech medal at the 2018 national competition in Frisco, Texas; Christian Fells with a gold math medal and Gabe Kietzer with a gold interview medal at the 2023 national competition in Frisco, Texas; and Lauryn Hellekson with a bronze speech medal, Nason Krzmarzick with a silver science medal, Morgan Klinkner with a gold speech medal, and Abigail Buffington with two nationals medals – a bronze interview medal and a gold speech medal at the 2025 national competition in Des Moines, Iowa.
Karl Schwartz was Minnesota’s Highest Scoring Student with a score of 5,900.3 points. He earned a $250 scholarship. Morgan Klinkner was voted as the team MVP and earned a $250 scholarship as well as a MVP gold medal.
Members of the LCWM team are:
Honors: Morgan Klinkner, Karl Schwartz, and Phena Jones;
Scholastic: Jacob Nelson, Nason Krzmarzick, and Derek Bernat;
Varsity: Reese Anderson, Jake Wersal, and Bella Jacobs.
Team coach is Billy James.
This nationals trip to Garden Grove, California, contained so many memorable moments. On Monday, April 20, the team traveled to Garden Grove. On Tuesday, April 21, the team traveled to Venice Beach, the Getty Museum, and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. On Wednesday, April 22, the team traveled to Seal Beach to experience the ocean and then spent the remainder of the day at Disneyland. On Thursday, April 23, the team went through registration as well as a welcome activity involving all teams and the United States Academic Decathlon Board of Directors. The event began with a parade of flags, and Morgan Klinkner was the Minnesota flag bearer. The LCWM team met its sister teams from Union High School in Iowa as well as John Marshall Senior High School in California. The speech competition was then held on Thursday afternoon and evening.
Friday, April 24, saw a full day of competition. The students took written tests in science, economics, math, social science, and music. Friday afternoon saw the teams take part in the Super Quiz Relay, an event where all students (in groups of three) answered 18 questions orally on stage. The students also watched the national Speech Showcase where the top three speeches in the nation were presented to everyone in attendance.
On Saturday, April 25, the national awards banquet was held. LCWM’s big moments came during the music, literature, economics, science, social science, and speech awards when the four students earned their nine national medals. After the awards banquet, the team traveled to Huntington Beach to cap off the nationals trip. The team then traveled home on Sunday, April 26. This nationals trip to Garden Grove, California, was a fantastic experience for everyone.
The team would like to thank Tracy and Scott Meadows, Karissa Hall, Sue Ehlers, and Alex Keilen for their help in preparing the students for competition. The team would also like to thank the community for making this trip possible through its financial support.
