Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/293799
"Fans and families were on the edges of their seats" during the final two matches of the Education Foundation of Sarasota County's Academic Olympics season on the last Saturday in March, the Foundation says in a news release. Teams were neckandneck all the way, "with the lead switching back and forth all after noon," it adds. In the last minutes of the championship game, perennial rivals Pine View School and Riverview High School were tied 100100, it continues, but the Pine View Pythons "scored big" with answers to the final questions and went on to claim the "Culture Vulture" trophy. The score was 194156, the release notes. Nine weeks of round robin competition were held from January through March, the release explains, featuring top players from 10 area high schools. The games "culminated in the intellectual 'final four' on March 29," it points out. For the first time in the program's history, the Most Valuable Player from each of the 10 participating high school teams was hon ored, the release says. Each received a $250 award from the Education Foundation. They were Booker High's Sarah Bell; Cardinal Mooney's Nick Etz; Imagine School at North Port's Michael DeHay; North Port High's Nick Sawyer; Pine View's Thomas Chaffee; Riverview High's Turner Means; Sarasota High's Nathaniel Folkins; Sarasota Military Academy's Alex Bardenhagan; Suncoast Polytechnical High's Erik Palm; and Venice High's Patrizio Murdocca. "The college bowlstyle Academic Olympics, now in its 33rd year, is the only program for Sarasota County high schools that provides the opportunity for competitive team efforts in academics comparable to athletics," the release notes. Over the years, members of the Sarasota County teams have won scholarships and competed nationally with Team Florida, it adds. The Education Foundation, which produces the series in partnership with the schools, covers Academic Olympics expenses the release says. Both Venice and Sarasota branches of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) have supported the program from its inception by recruiting, training and deploying volunteers as procedural judges, timekeepers and moderators, the release points out. The Military Officers Association of Sarasota donates the prizes awarded to the student teams. Sarasota County teachers and retired teachers serve as content judges. PINE VIEW VICTORIOUS IN 2014 ACADEMIC OLYMPICS FINALS Pine View team members and coaches celebrated capturing the 'Culture Vulture' trophy: (back row, from left) Coach Blake Wiley, Alisse Palmer, Aravind Byju, Manish Narasimman, Tyler Evon, Coach Paul Dean; (front row, from left) Jaclyn Wiley, Thomas Junker, Thomas Chaffee and Alexander Clark. Contributed photo Sarasota News Leader April 11, 2014 Page 74