2019 Bingham Academic Decathlon

Team Takes State

by Scott Crump

Congratulations go to the Bingham High School Academic Decathlon team which won the state tournament held in St George on March 7, 8 and 9, 2019.  With 41,814 points, the Miner decathletes captured their fifth state title.  Lone Peak High finished in second place with 41,798 points and DaVinci Academy of Ogden came in third with 40,060 points.  The Miners won their state championship by one of the narrowest margins in state history—one question out of the possible 2,680 questions answered.  The victorious Miner team won over 39 medals in the 10 subject areas of the competition which, this year, centered on the 1960s in American History.  The team won every gold medal possible in the subject areas of Art, Mathematics and Economics.  Allison Argueta won the top scholar award for Bingham’s team amassing 7,956 points and won a team high of 7 medals.  Isaac Cutler, competing in the scholastic division, received the second highest individual score with 7,520 points and won 7 medals and Ashlyn Bolinder, in the honors division, finished third with 7,074 points. The top varsity scholar was Emily Hepworth who won 5 medals and scored 6,380 points.  Hriday Sureish finished second in the Bingham scholastic division with 6,592 points and 4 medals and Joseph Dodge came in second in the varsity division with 6,290 points and 3 medals.  The students on the Miner state championship team included: Allison Argueta, Ashlyn Bolinder, Mahonri White and Jonathan Hog in the Honors Division; Isaac Cutler and Hriday Suresh in the Scholastic Division; and Emily Hepworth, Joseph Dodge and Penisoni Havili in the Varsity Division.  The Miner Decathletes are coached by Jimmy Barton and Cheryl Peterson. During the 2018-2019 competition year the Miner team has earned, in addition to its state trophy, a regional championship.  As the 2019 Utah State Academic Decathlon champions, the Miners will represent the state of Utah at the national contest in Bloomington, Minnesota the third week in April.  The team is now engaged in fundraising efforts to earn enough money so that they can travel to Minnesota.  If you would like to contribute call Bingham High School at 801-256-5100, donate online through the Jordan Education Foundation earmarking the funds for the Bingham Academic Decathlon team, or email Jimmy Barton at [email protected]  Great job Academic Decathletes and congratulations on an outstanding year so far.