Three Charlotte Latin Odyssey of the Mind teams advance to World Finals, students receive Omer and Ranatra Fusca Awards

Hammond Team

Five Charlotte Latin teams competed in the North Carolina Odyssey of the Mind (OM) tournament on Saturday, April 10, and three of those teams have advanced to the OM World Finals, which will be held May 26-29 at Michigan State University.

First and second place teams qualified for the World Finals. Charlotte Latin's Taylor/Lax team advanced to the World Finals in two categories.

Charlotte Latin OM students also received two awards at the state tournament:

Fourth grade student Ashley Derrington (McClung team) received the Omer Award, which is "given to recognize an individual (or team) who demonstrates outstanding sportsmanship, exemplary behavior, and exceptional talent." She was nominated for this award by OM judges in her team's division.

The Hammond Team (9th graders) received the Ranatra Fusca Award, which is "presented to teams or individuals who exhibit exceptional creativity through some aspect of their problem solution, their behavior, or an extraordinary idea beyond the problem solution." The team was nominated for the award by its division judges and the state captain for the category.

Charlotte Latin’s teams finished as follows:

Problem 1: Nature Trail'R
Division 2 - Sparks team (7th and 8th grade students) – 3rd place
Alison Bonner, JT Fortenberry, Ryan Gardner, Scott Gislason, Alec Lambert and Matthew Sparks (Coach: Laura Sparks).

Division 3 - Hammond team (9th grade students) – 1st place
Jaclyn Burton, Chuma Eruchalu, Alexis Giger, Chase Hammond, Davis Heniford, Michael Metzger and Marco Ricci (Coaches: Anne Marie Hammond and Ron Hammond).

Division 3 - Taylor/Lax team (11th and 12th grade students) – 2nd place
Patrick Burton, Meron Fessehaye, Kellen Heniford, Brian Lax, Jalen Ross, Alex Sanz and Alex Taylor (Coaches: Mary Ann Taylor and Jeff Lax).

Problem 2: Return to the Gift of Flight
Division 1 - McClung team (4th grade students) – 3rd place
Madison Cacheris, Ashley Derrington, Ethan Holtzman, Adit Kumar, Quin McClung, Lauren Williams and Jack Wingard (Coaches: Michelle McClung and Bill McClung)

Problem 4: Column Structure
Division 3 - Taylor / Lax team – 1st place
Patrick Burton, Meron Fessehaye, Kellen Heniford, Brian Lax, Jalen Ross, Alex Sanz and Alex Taylor (Coaches: Mary Ann Taylor and Jeff Lax).

Problem 5: Food Court
Division 2 – Carter / LeDonne team (8th grade students) – 1st place
Zach Carter, Wesley Dudas, Mason LeDonne, George Lucas, John Robinson and Griffin Smith (Coaches: Nicola Carter, Marty Carter and Russ LeDonne).