By Christina Leslie | Correspondent

Eighth graders from St. Paul School, Princeton, emerged victorious from the 35th annual Scholastic Olympics held Nov. 10 in Trenton Catholic Academy, Hamilton. The students won seven individual medals on their way to first place overall in the yearly competition designed to highlight young academians.

Open to eighth grade students in elementary schools in Mercer and northern Burlington Counties, the Scholastic Olympics tested the students in seven subject areas: art, English, history, mathematics, religion, science and spelling. Medals for first, second and third place winners were awarded in each category, and team trophies went to the top three schools with the most overall points.

St. Paul students Rachel Uy and Anna Mae Stout took first and second places in the English competition, while William Piepszak and Anna Ellwood ranked one and two in the science category. Savannah Alizio won first place in art; Daniela Martinez did the same in the spelling category. Isabella Pitarresi’s third place finish in Religion rounded out the St. Paul scholars’ medal total.

St. Ann School, Lawrenceville finished second place overall. Individual medals went to Taylor Ligon (third, art); Danny Rollo (first, history); Nina Mapp (second, religion); Olivia Zebrowski (second, spelling), and Isabella Storie and George Drago (second and third in mathematics).

The team from Trenton Catholic Academy, which earned the third place award, was aided in its efforts by Michelle Perez (second, art); Stanley Ihem (first, religion); Vlademir Veto (third, spelling) and Joshua Colon and Yazania Romero, who ranked second and third respectively in mathematics.

Individual winners from St. Raphael School, Hamilton, were Max White (third, English); Jordan Anderson (first, mathematics), and Ryan Ulisse (third, science). Students from Our Lady of Sorrows School, Hamilton; St. Gregory the Great Academy, Hamilton Square, and St. Paul School, Burlington, also competed.

TCA’s Monsignor McCorristin Chapter of the National Honor Society assisted teachers and test administrators throughout the competition. Melanie Stilts, TCA’s chapter moderator and math/science department chair, explained the motivation behind the annual contest.

“We offer the Scholastic Olympics each year to give students from area Catholic schools an opportunity to ‘show their stuff,’” Stilts said. “There are plenty of athletic competitions, but not so many chances for our academically gifted students to face off and really demonstrate their strengths.”

St. Paul School principal Ryan Killeen expressed pride in his students’ accomplishments under the direction of coaches Meghan Dwyer and Sarah Beyer, calling their first-place finish “ a testament to the dedication to academics our students demonstrate every day, and the talent of our committed and highly credentialed faculty.

“It’s always exciting to celebrate the unique community of our school and gratifying to see so much hard work recognized,” Killeen said.