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The state convention of the California Junior Classical League was held in Irvine in April, and Harker’s middle school students excelled in a broad range of categories. Harker ranked second overall among the middle schools at the event. Harker’s middle school also took first in the boys track and field 4 x 100 relay; second place in the banner competition; third place in scrapbook; second place in the T-shirt contest; first place in the female driver, four male “horses” (actually students) chariot race; and second place in the male driver, four female “horses” chariot race.
Oishi Banerjee, Gr. 8, earned first place at the Middle School 3 (MS3) level for overall individual performance in three categories: Arts, Athletics and Combined performance in Academic, Arts and Athletics. Banerjee also tied for first place in MS3 Mottoes, Abbreviations and Quotes with Kevin Duraiswamy; took first in MS3 girls Dramatic Interpretation; first in MS3 Latin Oratory; first in Modern Myth; third in middle school original poetry; first in Essay; second in Latin Slogan; first in MS vocal performance; second in Multi Media; and first in Certamen Team along with fellow students Duraiswamy, Nikhil Dilip and Anika Ayyar, all Gr. 8.
In addition to her first place Certamen Team win, Ayyar also finished first in MS3 Roman Daily Life; second in MS3 History; second in MS3 girls dramatic interpretation; tied for second place with Urvi Gupta, Gr. 8, in Latin Oratory; first in MS3 Sight Latin reading; second in MS vocal performance; second in MS Essay; second in the MS Dance competition; and second in the MS-Girls 100-meter track event. Gupta also took first place in MS Mosaics, third place in MS3 Reading Comp II and third place in MS3 Latin Derivatives.
Meanwhile, Zina Jawadi, Gr. 8, won first place in the MS3 Individual Athletics category; third in MS3 Grammar II; third in MS3 Vocabulary; second in MS3 Sight Latin Reading; second in piano performance; and first place in both the 400- and 1600-meter MS girls track events.
Adding to his Certamen Team win and first place tie with Banerjee in Mottoes, Abbreviations and Quotes, Duraiswamy also took first place in MS3 Reading Comprehension II and for the model he built for the Small Models event. He also tied for third place with Allison Chang, Gr. 8, in MS3 Sight Latin Reading. Chang also tied for second place in MS3 Mythology, finished third place in MS Essay and received an honorable mention in MS3 Latin Derivatives.
Sahithya Prakash, Gr. 8, won first place in MS2 Latin Oratory; finished second in MS2 Latin Oratory; third in MS2 Reading Comprehension I; third in the MS girls 100-meter track event; and earned an honorable mention in MS2 Mottoes, Abbreviations and Quotes.
Taking first in MS Sculpture was Anni Ankola, Gr. 7, who also won first in the MS Boys Costume competition and second place in MS2 mythology.
Sarika Bajaj, Gr. 8, also did well in several events, with second place finishes in MS3 Latin Derivatives and MS3 Reading Comprehension II, as well as a third place finish in MS Scrapbook.
Other middle school placers at the convention were Dilip, who took third in MS3 History in addition to being on the first place Certamen team; Brian Tuan, Gr. 8, who took second in MS3 Pentathlon and third in MS3 Latin Oratory; Vivek Sriram, Gr. 7, earning first in MS1 Reading Comprehension I and third in MS1 Latin Derivatives; Aadyot Bhatnagar, Gr. 7, who finished in first place in both MS2 Vocabulary and MS2 Reading Comprehension I; Samir Baz, Gr. 8, who placed second in MS2 Roman Daily Life; and Christina Wong, third place finisher in MS2 Latin Derivatives.
Congratulations to all the middle school student winners at this year’s California JCL convention!