On March 5-7, 2015, Bingham’s Academic Decathlon team competed against fifteen other schools at the state competition at Dixie State University in St. George. With 35,818 points, they took first place in the large school division, beating Lone Peak by 1,518 points and Copper Hills by 3,380 points. They placed second overall, barely losing to Park City by 1,121 points. Bingham’s individuals won an incredible 53 medals across the ten subjects of math, literature, economics, art, music, science, social science, interview, essay, and speech.

Tanner Harrison of the Honor Division took second place overall with a massive 7,147 points, receiving the top scholar trophy and certificate, making his team proud with 9 medals. Austin LaBonty won 8 medals in the Scholastic Division. Ben Oakeson took 5 medals and had the top varsity score with 4,862 points, which was a great accomplishment as he was recruited to the team in January, a few months late in the game. The Honor Division also swept economics, taking gold, silver, and bronze.

The Honor Division included Tanner Harrison (senior), Max Heine (senior), and Skyler Knadler (senior) with Hannah White (junior) and Mary Dodge (sophomore) as alternates; Scholastic included Austin LaBonty (senior), Zack Hall (junior), and Kyle Tingey (senior); Varsity comprised of Ben Oakeson (junior), Tyler Thomas (junior), and Sena Tauteoli (junior).

Senior Tanner Harrison said, “Despite how nerdy Decathlon sounds, it’s a blast. It’s fun to be with everyone on the team. We really came together this year and worked hard. As a result, we won the Super Quiz and placed second in the state. I’m really glad that I had the opportunity to associate with these incredibly intelligent kids at Bingham.” Hard work definitely paid off for Bingham’s Academic Decathlon this year.

Coaches James Barton, Allison Bridge, and Scott Crump put forth incredible work, as did the team, to take the Miners to victory.