March 2013
CdS Sunrise Championship Edition
State titles also earned in scholastics AASHINI CHOKSI Calendar Editor
The boys basketball team isn’t the only Corona del Sol High School team to repeat this year. Last month, Corona’s Neuroscience team competed at the 2013 Brain Bee and won the state championship for the second year in a row. More than 167 competitors from 17 different schools statewide came together at Midwestern University in Glendale for this tournament. Each member competed individually and answered questions pertaining to neuroscience. “You have to be knowledgeable about things like anatomy, the rest of the brain, the nervous system, disorders, and other things like drugs and treatments,” club sponsor David Spadafore said. After the preliminary rounds, the competitors were narrowed down to just 20 people for the individual finals. Out of the 16 club members,
four Aztecs made it to the individual finals: seniors Lihong Tang and Deydeep Kothalpalli made it in the top 10. Senior Joyce Wen took third place and junior Patric Cao finished in second place. The top five individual scores were combined to determine the team’s ranking; Corona’s team won first place. “It was rewarding experience,” Cao said. “I think the club is very good overall because it teaches kids about the importance of the field.” According to Spadafore, the Neuroscience Club requires a certain level of commitment. “This club is for people who are motivated and have a desire to learn about that particular topic. If you’ve got an interest and a drive then it can be very rewarding,” Spadafore said. “They’re great kids. They work really hard and it’s nice to see them do things on their own and are self motivated. It’s nice to be around those types of kids.” ®
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LILLY BERKLEY
Corona del Sol Neuroscience Club sponsor David Spadafore introduces the team members during the state championship assembly on March 1. This was the second year the Neuroscience team won the Brain Bee competition, the equivalent of the state championship.
Checkmate: Tang claims state chess title NATALIE CRAWFORD Staff Writer
LIHONG TANG
The 2011 AIA state chess championship didn’t end the way then-junior Lihong Tang wanted it to. “I should have gotten first last year,” the nowsenior said. “But I messed up so I got second instead.” In November, however, Tang was able to come back the state individual chess title. Tang won five-and-a-half of six matches. Tang and his competitor played to a draw in the fifth match, which netted Tang the half point. This this didn’t impact his chance to win, however. Chess coach and math teacher Leigh Trudgen stayed through most of the matches and has been supporting Tang’s chess playing for the four years Tang has been going to school at Corona. “(Tang) came in as a new player and progressed,” Trudgen said. “When you start out as a new player you start off with 400 ranking, and now he is the highest-ranking chess player in all of the state. He’s gone from the very bottom to the top.” Regarding last year’s runner-up finish, Trudgen
said, “he shoud have won last year, I think, but it just didn’t happen that way.” Despite the second-place finish last year, Tang didn’t find it necessary to prepare any differently than he had before. This year he simply had another year of experience under his belt. Throughout the school year Tang had been participating in high school tournaments in anticipation for the championship in November. During the championship rounds, Tang was actually behind during the matches and had strategically play to gain the upper hand. “The last match was extremely gratifying because I knew that if he won the last match, he’d be the champ,” Tang said. “I was pretty sure he would be even though it was a close match. He came up with a serious of moves that put the match from being close to putting him far ahead.” It was following this sixth match that Tang was confirmed the champion of the AIA State Individual Championships. “It felt pretty good to win,” Tang said. “I liked ending my high school chess career on a high note.” ®