TREENA MIELKE
Crestomere School’s Reach teams correctly answered themselves into becoming medal winners at the provincial championships held recently in Wetaskiwin.
Crestomere’s intermediate Reach team of Grade 9 students Angus Tulloch, Sam Hubert, Mark DenOudesten and Caleb Froese took gold, defeating a Clear Vista School team from Wetaskiwin in the final game.
Crestomere’s junior team of grades 7 and 8 students Brian Hoar, Naomi Froese, Isabell Stamm and Brandon Crooks also did well, coming home with a bronze medal. The team lost to Lacombe in the semifinal.
Frank Tschabold, who coached the teams along with Kathy Bogath and Debbie Long, is very proud of both teams.
“We are a small school and to send one team is great, but to send two is especially good,” he said.
“We are exceedingly proud. They are a neat bunch of kids. They also compete in sports and are highly motivated. They never fail to amaze me. They know more than I do.”
He noted that Crestomere School has classes up to only Grade 9 so there were no Grade 10 students on their intermediate team.
“That in itself is quite an accomplishment,” he said.
The teams began practicing in October, spending time during lunch breaks and after school to prepare for contests.
In a telephone interview from Crestomere School, the intermediate Reach team chatted about their gold medal, reflecting on the journey they travelled to make it to the top.
The boys agreed it was a great deal of work.
“There was constant practicing,” said Angus Tulloch. “Twice a week after school and during lunch.”
The boys agreed, however, that the practicing was necessary to hone their academic skills so they were up for the challenge of facing other teams. They also noted that they were undefeated throughout the entire season, so the practicing did pay off.
When they arrived at a competition, they were always interested in how well their opponents were prepared.
“We always assessed how smart they were,” said Mark DenOudsten.
Most of the team said they were nervous, although Sam Hubert was confident they would win. “I wasn’t all that nervous and I wasn’t really surprised that we won.”
The boys agreed that being part of Crestomere’s Reach team was certainly a winning experience with or without a gold medal.
“We made a lot of friends and we did learn a lot,” said DenOudsten.
Coach Bogath said the team proved to be very quick to answer the questions.
“They were able to store the knowledge and retrieve it quickly. They were very quick to answer.”