Westlake's Academic Challenge Teams Among Best In U.S.

WESTLAKE, OH — Don't mess with Westlake's Academic Challenge teams. Both the high school squad and the team at Lee Burneson Middle Schools finished top 10 in the nation in the Questions Unlimited Fall 3-2-1 National Competition.

The teams had to answer more than 100 questions each to land amid the nation's best teams. The high schoolers had to answer 240 questions; the middle school team had to answer 156.

For their efforts, the high school team finished second in the nation, beating out 166 teams in the process. Westlake High's Academic Challenge team finished first in Ohio.

Lee Burneson's squad finished seventh in the nation, while competing with 75 teams across the country. The team was second in Ohio.

"Mrs. Packis and I are very proud of our LMBS and WHS teams. They understand the Louis Pasteur quote, “Luck favors the prepared mind.” Our students practice weekly, compete in tournaments, and study to improve their overall knowledge. They enter competitions prepared to do well," John Packis, Academic Challenge adviser told Patch.

The high school team is composed of seniors Matthew Vulku, Patrick Lee, Kyle Yu, Jack Wu, Ryan Karpuszka; juniors Akhilesh Reddy, Danny Mather, Talya Jeter and Albert Zhou; sophomores Zahraa Abdulameer, Molly Finucane, Richard Garber; and freshmen Shane Quinn, Sagan Woolner and Vivek Aslot.

The Lee Burneson's team is made up of eighth graders Neige DeAngelis, Hanna Goyetche, Oscar Hoegler, Daniela Danilova, Katherine Xiao, Ethan Drake, Jack Frew, Rhett Bilski and Joey Baker; and seventh graders Matthew Taylor and Alicia Ge.

The advisers for Academic Challenge are John and Sandy Packis.

Photos from Westlake Schools