By Christina Leslie, Correspondent

Once, twice, thrice…. frice? The folks at Oxford will have to invent a new word for their dictionary to describe the fourth consecutive victory of a team from St. Paul School in the 36th TCA Scholastic Olympics.

The annual contest pitted the Princeton competitors against six other Catholic schools of the Diocese as they vied for individual and team honors Nov. 9 in Trenton Catholic Academy, Hamilton.

Designed as an academic challenge to eighth grade students in Mercer and northern Burlington counties, the Scholastic Olympics tested the students in seven subject areas: art, English, history, mathematics, religion, science and spelling. Individual winners collected medals for first, second and third places, while team trophies were awarded to the top three schools with the most overall points.

St. Paul students Sofia Ortiguera placed second in the art category, while classmate Peter Winkler took home the top prize in English. Hawkins Sutter ranked second in mathematics, and Jennifer Miller won the science competition. Hannah Park and Aria Tameze were second and third in spelling, respectively.

Trenton Catholic Academy and St. Gregory the Great Academy, Hamilton Square, tied for second place in the competition.

TCA individual winners were Anthony Aririguzoh and Kimberly Santos (first and second, history); Josephine Abraham (first, religion), and Maeve Hutchinson (third, science).

Individuals who won medals from St. Gregory the Great were Mary Harbison (first, art); Carleigh DiPasquale (third, English); George Mularadelis (first, mathematics), and Connor Stachowski (second, religion).

St. Ann School, Lawrenceville, fielded four wins: Alex Ruzzi (third, art); Andrew Salmon (third, mathematics), and Natalie Kobus (third, religion).

St. Paul School, Burlington, was represented in the winner’s circle by Emma Tomczynski (second, art), while Our Lady of Sorrows School, Hamilton, student Jamie Mersel placed third in history. Jake Shannon of St. Raphael School, Hamilton, ranked second in science.

TCA’s Monsignor McCorristin Chapter of the National Honor and National Junior Honor Societies hosted the Scholastic Olympics, noted TCA chapter moderator Melanie Stilts.

St. Paul School principal, Dr. Ryan Killeen, congratulated the team and their teacher coaches, Sarah Brown and Meghan Dwyer, adding, “What makes a success like this so beautiful is that, as an academic community, we can all celebrate and share in this victory. Every teacher shares in the success of every student … Our students have worked toward these goals since day one, and every teacher that has been a guide on this academic journey played a pivotal role.”