SLHS AD History

The 2008 team broke three 4A records. First, they were the first team to knock off Friendswood - who had won 15 consecutive regional and state titles. Second, they broke a record for the highest score ever by a 4A high school, scoring 47,941. Third, Stephen Tu was the highest scorer in the State of Texas (among all classifications). Fourth, Toni Alimi scored the highest Scholastic score in the history of TAD for a 4A high school student.

Spartan Decathlon Official Photo at State Meet
Before the speech and interviews, the SLHS team poses for the official photo of the State Meet.

MLK Day Tradition Continues
The Spartan Decathlon team continues its tradition of meeting at Starbucks on MLK Day, the week of the Regional Meet - good luck Spartans! Do you believe in miracles?

Spartan Decathlon Prepares for Regional Competition!
The Spartan Decathlon team prepares for the Regional Meet by playing "You Can't Fool Me" at an after school practice. Regionals is Jan. 19 and 20 at Pearland High School.

2006 / 07 Spartan Decathlon Assistant Coaches
Our assistant coaches for this year will be, Mary Castellucci (speech and interview), Jill Guerrero (math), and Lori Newland (essay and language / literature). We look forward to them working with our students, this is going to be an exciting year for the Spartan Decathlon team, we have high expectations for our program this year. Welcome aboard ladies!

Inaugural Year: 2005 - 2006

District Meet: 5th Place Team
Regional Meet: 2nd Place Team Overall; 2nd Place Team Super Quiz Overall; 3rd Place Team Super Quiz Relay
State Meet: Final State Ranking - #19

2005 - 2006 Seven Lakes Spartan Decathlon Team
Back Row (left to right): Coach John P. Irish, Anirban Bhaumik, Evan Hvatum, Stephanie Seuffert, and Tessa Simone
Middle Row (left to right): Brittany Herman, Fei-Fei Zhang, and Franziska Luttge
Front Row (left to right): Lauren Hendrickson and Toni Alimi

Spartan Decathlon Official Photo at State Meet
Before the speech and interviews, the SLHS team poses for the official photo of the State Meet.

Originally the Spartan Decathlon team had over 30 students trying out for the 9 AD spots; once the school year began a number of students pulled out. In all, the Spartan Decathlon team had 17 students competing in the Katy ISD AD Scrimmage on Dec. 1 & 2, 2005: Toni Alimi, Anirban Bhaumik, Stephanie Chiu, Lauren Hendrickson, Brittany Herman, Evan Hvatum, Melanie Kong, Leon Liu, Franziska Luttge, Jason Parry, Stephanie Seuffert, Ashley Simmons, Rose Thomas, Stephen Tu, Christina Wilson, David Xu, and Fei-Fei Zhang. The SLHS AD team was very competitive at this meet, considering it was their first official competition; opposing coaches made the following comments about the Spartan AD Team members, "your kids are so intense, it's hard to believe they are only 9th and 10th graders," "wow, you guys are going to be tough in a few years," "you all held your own with some of the top AD teams in the state - congrats."

Our strong showing at the Regional Meet got the attention of many opposing competitors, Mr. Irish received the following email the day after the competition.

Dear Mr. Irish,
I just wanted to congratulate you on such a wonderful job that you and the team did on Saturday. I actually read about your school in the paper on Friday, and I was extremely interested in seeing the potential of an all freshman and sophomore team. The excellence that your team achieved far exceeded what I expected and shows that only more windows will open with the resting knowledge at Seven Lakes. Not only was your team doing well in scores, but from what I could see at the meet, they conducted themselves in a very mature and modest manner. You have already set a high bar in the form of respectability that is already present. I am very proud of you and your team for coming in and impressing all of the other teams; I'd have to say that I was probably one of the loudest of the people for your cheering section. The only thing that could make me happier is to compete with your team at state; it would be an honor to push your team and my team to the limit at the state competition. Please let your team know what a wonderful job they did � once again, great job Mr. Irish and Seven Lakes team! I am still amazed.
Sincerely,
Travis Brown
Pearland Decathlete

What a great compliment and testament to our program - the Spartan Decathlon team is making waves and getting noticed; not only in the Houston area, but across the country. If you want to be a part of the Spartan Decathlon / Octathlon program, please contact Mr. Irish and let's talk about the role that you can play within this program.

Jan. 16, 2006 - Team Practice at Starbucks
The Spartan Decathlon team meets on MLK holiday; students eat, enjoy team bonding, and get in last minute cram sessions before the Regional Meet.

Dec. 9, 2005 - Team Dinner and Meeting @ Bowe's House
The Spartan Decathlon team meets one final time before finals and the holiday break - enjoying pizza, watching "Miracle" and talking about individual and team goals as they begin to make their final push before the Regional Meet on Jan. 20 - 21.

Dec. 1 and 2, 2005 - AD Students show their SMU Mustang spirit during a break at the Katy ISD AD Meet

Nov. 12, 2005 - AD Students Compete During the SLHS Intra-Squad Meet

Spartan Decathlon - setting the standard for Academic Excellence at Seven Lakes High School.