Two BPA Members Win State Titles
Two students won championships and 21 others qualified for nationals at the Business Professionals of America State Leadership Conference in Oak Brook last week. Senior Joie You captured her second state title in the last three years, winning the Advanced Accounting division. She claimed the Fundamental Accounting crown as a sophomore. Stevenson’s other state champion was sophomore Brandon Li, who won Fundamentals of Web Design.
The state champions automatically qualified for the BPA National Leadership Conference May 6-10 in Washington, D.C.. They will be joined by 21 other SHS students who qualified:
Senior: Jordan Pine
Juniors: Alex Bai, Jennifer Cheng, Brianna Cheung, Lindsey Hendler, Tarun Kalyana Sundaram, Sabrina Kozarovitsky, Sean Li, Bhavya Sharma, Arnav Srinivasan, Ian Zhang and Grace Zhu.
Sophomores: Chinmay Avsarkar, Adi Dalal, Yash Gangavarapu, Mehul Gautam, Shreyas Mishra, Keyur Panchal, Cole Rand, Daniel Saltzman, Clement Wang and Lillian You.
Joie will be making her third trip to nationals, while Alex and Bhavya qualified for the second time. The State Leadership Conference was held at the DoubleTree Hilton Oak Brook Hotel on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Eighty-nine Stevenson students competed in more than 60 business-related events. The competition included more than 40 high schools from around the state, with nearly 900 students competing.
Scholastic Bowl Team Second at NAQT State Tournament
The Scholastic Bowl A team finished second at the Illinois High School Scholastic Bowl Coaches Association/NAQT State Championship last weekend at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Stevenson won 12 of 15 matches to place behind University Lab School of Urbana, which went 14-1.
Senior Govind Prabhakar, who was named to the all-state team, led SHS with a fourth-place individual finish. Junior Arjun Nageswaran was 16th. They were joined by juniors David Lee and Daniel Ding, and freshman Aadit Juneja. The B team won the consolation bracket and finished with an 8-2 record. Its roster included senior Akash Kumar, sophomore Anish Arora, and freshmen Rishabh Wuppalapati, Arunabh Ganguli and Dhruv Pendharkar.
Seven Chosen for State Art Exhibition
Works by seven students have been chosen for display in the state’s largest high school student art exhibition, which opens today in Chicago. The seventh annual Illinois High School Art Exhibition, featuring works by 1,000 student artists from 105 high schools, runs through Friday, April 3 at the Bridgeport Art Center in Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood. Artists submitted pieces in eight categories: drawing, painting, mixed media, design, photography, pottery, sculpture, and “time arts” (digital media such as animation).
Seniors Piper Starr, Xinting Guo and Ari Zaritsky, and juniors Emma Potocki, Benna Li and Hannah Stewart, were selected for the General Exhibition, a “best of the best” show featuring more than 800 works of art from public and private high school students around Illinois. Ari and classmate Jasmine Lin will be part of the Senior Scholarship Exhibition, in which top student artists compete for more than $88 million in college scholarships. This is the second consecutive year Piper and Jasmine have participated in the show. Here is a link to view Emma’s short animated feature.
Pair Wins Top Honors at Mock Trial Competition
Four students won awards at the annual Illinois YMCA Youth and Government state mock trial competition in Springfield last weekend. Senior Victor Shi and junior Arjun Nageswaran won first place overall for their work as defense attorneys in the case of People v. McNeill, in which the defendant claimed he was wrongly accused of murdering a woman at a grocery store in Worth. Victor and Arjun finished second in the bench memo and oral argument categories, and their combined scores lifted them to first place overall.
Senior Advait Deoskar and sophomore Aditi Ambravan won third place for their bench memo written for the defense in the case of People v. Jones, in which the defendant claimed she had to kill her husband to defend herself and her two children. Also serving as defense attorneys from SHS in People v. Jones were seniors Janice Lee and Joanna Lee. Their sponsor was retired Social Studies teacher Richard Pierce. Oral arguments took place in the chambers of the Illinois Supreme Court.
Table Tennis Team Third at State Tournament
The varsity table tennis team finished third at the Interscholastic Table Tennis of Illinois state tournament on Saturday at Maine East High School in Park Ridge. SHS bounced back from a second-round loss to eventual runner-up Whitney Young to defeat Loyola Academy, 8-1, for third place. Naperville North won the title for the fourth straight year. Stevenson’s lineup included seniors Jason Leong, Paul Park, Sam Wang and Eric Wu, juniors Yoav Malka and Nikhith Rao, and freshman Srihas Rao.
The junior varsity placed second Friday at the ITTI Founder’s Cup, the consolation bracket of the state tournament, at Maine East. Stevenson tied Naperville North, which was awarded first place based on a tie breaker. The Patriot roster featured juniors Doogyul Lee, Brad Locker and David Wallach, sophomores Jean Andre Bondad, Frank Gao, Jasmine Leong and Rithvik Mandumula, and freshmen Zack Baden, Lance Locker and AJ Stewart.
Winter Band Concert Tonight, Wednesday
The Winter Band Concert takes place at 7 p.m. tonight and Wednesday in the Performing Arts Center. Admission is free. Tonight’s concert will feature the Advanced Symphonic Band and Freshman Band. Wednesday’s lineup includes Concert Band, Symphonic Band and Honor Band. The concerts will be streamed live on the Fine Arts Division’s Vimeo page.
Alcohol and the Teenage Brain
Stevenson‘s Substance Abuse Prevention Coordinator, Dr. Cristina Cortesi, will share regular reflections during the school year in the Daily Digest. For more information on Dr. Cortesi and the substance abuse prevention program, visit her web page.
Research shows that young people’s brains keep developing well into their 20s. Alcohol can alter this development, potentially affecting both brain structure and function. Underage drinking may cause cognitive or learning problems, or make the brain more prone to alcohol dependence. This is especially a risk when people start drinking young and drink heavily. For more information from the National Institutes of Health, click here.
SHS Earns Three Medals at State Swim Meet
The boys swimming and diving team earned three medals at the Illinois High School Association state meet Saturday at Evanston Township High School. The 200-yard medley relay team of seniors AJ Carollo, Jack Zhang and Jake Kim, and sophomoreJosh Songplaced fifth with a time of 1:33.38. Sophomore Jack White finished sixth in 1-meter diving with a score of 457.90, and Josh added an eighth-place showing in the 100-yard butterfly (49.96).
Jack finished his career with four state medals. In addition to one this year, he was part of medal-winning 400 free relays in 2018 and 2019, and in the 200 medley relay last year. AJ earned his second state medal after swimming in the 400 free relay in 2019. All of Stevenson‘s other medalists this year were first-timers. – Official Results | Daily Herald
Boys Basketball Regional Semifinal Tonight in Sports Center
The boys basketball team’s second season starts tonight. The Patriots, seeded No. 1 in the Illinois High School Association Class 4A Prospect Sectional, will open postseason play on their home court. SHS takes on Lake Zurich in the Stevenson Regional semifinals at 6 o’clock in the Sports Center, followed by the second semifinal between Lake Forest and Highland Park. Lake Zurich defeated Waukegan, 53-48, in overtime Monday night. The Patriots carry a 25-4 record and nine-game winning streak into tonight’s contest. Stevenson faced Lake Zurich twice during the regular season, winning both games: 62-36 on Dec. 17, and 48-24 on Feb. 11. Tonight’s game will be streamed live on Stevenson’s NFHS Network page.
Saturday’s Varsity Results
Girls Track and Field
Stevenson at Wheeling Wildcat Indoor Invitational: Junior Camille Clay won the shot put with a throw of 42 feet, 3 inches, and the Patriots also received a first place in the four-lap relay from juniors Jade Cadichon and Jessica Qualich, sophomore Mia Mikolajczak, and freshman Ava Mecir (1:25.0). Sophomore Ella O’Neal was second in shot put (41-1) while junior Emma Finnegan was third in the 3,200-meter run (13:52.7). Other top-six finishes came from senior Karolina Rutyna, who was fourth in the 55-meter hurdles (11.0); Jade, fifth in the 200-meter dash (29.0); sophomore Livy Alton, fifth in the 800-meter run (2:38.4); Ava, sixth in the 200 (29.44); and freshman Katelyn Robinson, sixth in the 55 dash (8.22). Stevenson placed fifth out of 10 teams. – Official Results
Boys Ice Hockey
Loyola Academy 5, Stevenson 3: The Ramblers ended the Patriots’ season in the quarterfinals of the Blackhawk Cup state tournament at the Edge Ice Arena in Bensenville. Stevenson finished the season with a 29-24-2 record.
Friday’s Varsity Results
Boys Track and Field
Stevenson at Huntley Indoor Invitational: Senior Jahleel Perrin won two events and ran in a first-place relay for the Patriots, who finished third out of 13 schools. Jahleel captured the 60-meter dash (7.11) and the 200-meter dash (23.35), and was part of the winning 800-meter relay with classmates Jordan Vincent and Shane Johnson, and junior David Smolensky (1:33.47). Jordan recorded Stevenson’s other individual victory, topping the field in the 400 (51.73). David (7.15) and Shane (7.29) were second and fourth, respectively, in the 60, then comprised half of the second-place 1,600 relay (3:33.43) with Jordan and sophomore Jimmy Davis. Other top-six finishers included freshman Stephen Freihammer, who was fourth in the high jump (1.73 meters), and seniors Anthony Rodriguez and Corey Pacernick, who placed fifth (9:45.91) and sixth (9:56.87), respectively, in the 3,200 meters. – Official Results
Thursday’s Varsity Results
Girls Track and Field
Stevenson 68, Libertyville 30, Waukegan 25: Sophomore Mia Mikolajczak won two events for the host Patriots in their season-opening meet in the Field House. She captured the 55-meter intermediate hurdles (9.9 seconds) and the 55-meter high hurdles (10.0). Junior Varsha Vinod captured the high jump with a leap of 4 feet, 6 inches (one scratch), and sophomore Ella O’Neal won the shot put with a throw of 41 feet, 1.5 inches. Stevenson also won the 1,600-meter relay (4:59.6). In addition to winning five of the 12 events, the Patriots placed second in nine. Senior Karolina Rutyna was runner-up in the 55-meter high hurdles (10.43) and 55-meter intermediate hurdles (10.27). Junior Camille Clay was second in shot put (39-10.5) while classmate Jade Cadichon was runner-up in the 160-meter dash (22.46). Senior Alyssa Smith was second in high jump (4-6, two scratches) and freshman Katelyn Robinson was runner-up in the 55-meter dash (7.93). SHS also was second in the 3,200 relay (12:03), the 640 relay (1:38.8), and the 1,600 relay (5:02.51).
Stevenson Daily Digest 