Ronan wins 2026 Academic Bowl
Summer Goddard
Members of Ronan's Academic Bowl team wait to see if the answer they've given to a question is correct.
courtesy photo
Ronan’s winning team poses for a photo with this year’s trophy.
Summer Goddard
During a round in which they competed against the Ronan team, St. Ignatius team members discuss the answer to a trivia question.
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RONAN — A team of middle schoolers from Ronan made their school proud, bringing home the traveling trophy for this winter’s annual Lake County Academic Bowl.
The Ronan team of sixth, seventh and eighth graders came out with the most points in the annual competition between Polson, Charlo, Ronan and Mission middle schools that tests the students’ academic knowledge in math, science, English, logic and social studies.
The competition started with a mixer on Dec. 10, with rounds in January and February rotating among the four schools. The final round was held March 4 at the Ronan Performing Arts Center.
The Ronan team finished with 2,141 points while Charlo had 1,895 points, Mission 1,758 points and Polson 1,454 points.
“It’s fun to see the kids compete,” said Bill Becker, Ronan middle school math teacher and coach for the Ronan team. “It’s nice to have this kind of thing. Unlike sports, not much attention is given to academic achievement. Some of the same kids have both, but it’s nice for other kids to get to compete academically against other schools.”
The first measure of the team’s knowledge is a written test, he explained. “It’s very fast and furious. You see the kids at the table asking another one if they know the answer to a question. It’s impossible for a kid to complete by their self. It teaches teamwork.”
The second part is how a team reacts to oral competition against another team under a timed, pressured environment. The team that obtains the most combined points during both sessions will win the meet and be declared the county champion.
The Ronan team included eighth graders Harper Hardy, Amelia Connally, Penelope Jackson, Rebekkah High, Wren Harvorkah and Dustyn Bowen; seventh graders Shelly Torgernrud, Landon Henricksen and Madison Wayman; and sixth graders Tobias Becker, Bella Ness and Kinlee Marengo.
It was the fifth time over the years that the Ronan team took home the honors, having also won in 2019-20, 2020-21, 2022-23 and 2023-24. Charlo was the champion for several years from 2014-15 to 2018-19. Polson won in 2021-22 and Mission took home the trophy last year.
Becker said several students will come to practice sessions and the top 10 in a test selected to be on the team. Last year, 20 initially came to practice, “so there is some competition for the team,” he noted.
Even though this year’s season is over, several sixth graders are already coming into his classroom to start training for next year under the guidance of an eighth grader. “The kids are already preparing for next year,” Becker said. “It’s nice they want to be a part of it.”
He said the students “pretty much generate their own study questions.” They use what questions they can remember were asked during the last season – no notes are allowed during the actual rounds. The students also turn to AI to come up with other questions.
The rules for the Lake County Academic Bowl concluded: “The competitions are meant to be fun and to help reinforce the importance of academic achievement. Winning isn’t nearly as important as learning, practicing sportsmanship and developing leadership skills.”
2026 competitors included:
Charlo: eighth graders Addison Hougue, Brystol Bauer and JoHanna Long; seventh graders Kaid Sinclair, Coen Cahoon, Brandt Stipe, Apollonia Hall, Aubree Blevins and Ashley Alder; and sixth graders Madilyn DuMont and Madison Madden
Mission: eighth graders Carter Hawkaluk, Grant Jensen, Maya Nance, Isabelle McCready and Eliana Wood; seventh graders Boston Evans, Easton Leishman and Noah Robine; and sixth graders Atticus Holets and Maude Pavlock Ferencz
Polson: eighth graders Owen Godfrey, Silas Saloka, Frank Schmidt, Piper Williamson, Angell Whiteman and Kiara Brooks-Allan; seventh graders Dae Brooks Allan, Sydnee Davis, Ari Kamarainen, Joshua Karstens, Lucas Lambert, Declen McClain, Silas Milliron, Lolo Owen, Maia Ross, Pennelope Spencer and Liam Venters
