BY KARISSA MILLER
Iredell-Statesville Schools students continue to excel in sports and academic achievements. During the April 10 I-SS Board of Education meeting, the Board recognized the following student athletes and academic achievers:
Lake Norman High School Women’s Basketball Team
The LNHS women’s basketball team was runner up in the 4A State Championship. The team was undefeated until losing to Panther Creek in the championship game. They ended their season with a 31-1 record. The head coach is head coach is McKenzie Graham and assistant coaches are Marc Weston, Scott Dow and Mark McCoullum.
The team players are: Nevaeh Atkins, Adason Buoniconti, Kaylee Ellis, Kirsten Lewis-Williams, Jeta North, Kelsey Rhyne, Alexis Shehan, Samantha Shehan, Addison Sirianni, Aliya Williams Reece Houk and Emma Kennerly.
LNHS Wrestling
LNHS’s wrestling team and women’s wrestling state champion Caleigh Suddreth. The head coach is Josh Stanley and assistant coaches are Jason Lanning and Jordan Nolan.
• Men’s Wrestling – 132-pound State Runner-up: Eli Murray
• Women’s Wrestling – 152-pound State Runner-up: Nevaeh Banks
• Women’s Wrestling – 145-pound State Champion: Caleigh Suddreth. In 2022, she was the 152-pound NCHSAA State Champion.
Odyssey of the Mind
In academics, I-SS had 10 schools participate in Odyssey of the Mind regional competition this year. Odyssey of the Mind is an international program that provides creative problem-solving opportunities for students. Team members must work together to develop innovative solutions to solve problems.
Odyssey of the Mind students are asked to think creatively and outside of the box. They may demonstrate their solutions through building, creating, acting, and/or presentation.
The following teams placed in the top 3 at the Regional OM Competition in their assigned problem/divisions:
• The Brawley School, 2nd Place;
• Woodland Heights Elementary, 3rd Place;
• Lake Norman High School, 1st Place;
• Lake Norman Elementary, 2nd Place;
• South Iredell High School, 1st Place; and
• Celeste Henkel Elementary, 2nd Place
Following regionals, the teams moved forward to State Level on March 25 and the following teams received state level recognitions:
• Lake Norman Elementary School, 2nd Place;
• Woodland Heights Elementary School, Omar Award for Outstanding Sportsmanship;
• Lake Norman High School, the Ranatra Fusca Award for Exceptional Creativity and 3rd
place;
Lake Norman Elementary and Lake Norman High School will head to the Worlds Competition May 24th-27 in Lansing, Mich.
International Science and Engineering Fair
Nicholas Moore, a student at South Iredell High School, recently competed at the Regional Science Fair with his project titled CO2 and CH4 Studies.
The Regional Level competition was a Virtual Science Fair sponsored by the University of North Carolina Charlotte on February 2-4. Students participated in zoom interviews with a panel of judges. They had to answer multiple questions from the judges regarding their research and present their scientific findings through both presentation and a Quad Chart.
Moore was one of only two students to receive top honors as the International Science and Engineering Fair award recipient. He will advance to the world’s largest pre-college STEM competition. This competition will take place from May 14-19 in Dallas, Texas, at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.
Math Expo Winners
I-SS hosted the District Math Expo Competition on March 28th at Unity Center in Statesville. There were 93 projects total across four categories: K-2nd grades, 3rd-4th grades, 5th-6th grades and 7th-8th grades.
The top finishers in each of the categories were:
K-2nd Grades
• Freya Kyles, Cool Spring, Interesting Measurements, Gold;
• Hawkson Rikard and Philip Quarantiello, East Elementary, Disney Heroes vs Villains Battle Game, Silver; and
• Maddox Warren, East Elementary, Pendulum with Legos, Bronze
3rd-4th Grades
• Advaitha Nithin, ISS Virtual Academy, The Math in Origami, Gold;
• Daxton Briggs, Lakeshore Elementary, Me vs. the NBA, Silver; and
• Mila Tabanina, Lakeshore Elementary, Four-Legged Math, Bronze
5th-6th Grades
• Ishita Agarwal, Coddle Creek, The Pi Story, Gold;
• Nickolas Kososki, The Brawley School, Launch Dynamics, Silver; and
• Maris Caudill, Cloverleaf, Left vs Right Tennis, Bronze
7th-8th Grades
• Sona Sree Karthikeyan, The Brawley School, The Race to Artificial Intelligence Supremacy, Gold;
• Serah Mobin, The Brawley School, Got Fudge? Silver; and
• Neil Talaviya, The Brawley School, Pascal’s Patterns, Bronze