• Feb. 24, 2017 
     
    Odyssey of the Mind prepares for regionals

    Odyssey of the Mind team Five Upper St. Clair teams were among the top performers in the recent Odyssey of the Mind Spontaneous Fun Day competition at Linton Middle School in Penn Hills.

    Spontaneous Fun Day is a practice competition run annually by the Western Pennsylvania Odyssey of the Mind. Odyssey teams from throughout the Pittsburgh region participate to experience friendly competition and help prepare for the spontaneous portion of the Regional Tournament on March 4, 2017.

    This year Upper St. Clair has 19 Odyssey of the Mind teams with students from all six schools participating. Eight USC teams participated in the Spontaneous Fun Day – five of whom earned awards.

    Three teams earned second place honors:
    • Division 1A: Asha Segall, Lauren Babbitt, Shreeva Sutreja, Reese Roeschenthaler, Emilie Buchanan, Ella Zegarelli, Anushka Patil / Coaches: Mondeep Puri, Tina Roeschenthaler
    • Division 1B: Jake Casares, Stella Moss, Anastasia Gzikowski, Esha Lathia, Ben Murtough, Ben Seewald, Peter Markovitz / Coaches: Stacey Seewald, Laura Murtough, Meridith Markovitz
    • Division 2: Sammie Seewald, Max Murtough, Brianna Lin, Victoria Cuba, Eric Wang, Joseph Markovitz, Constantine Tripodes / Coaches: Laura Murtough, Stacey Seewald, Meridith Markovitz
    Two teams earned third place:
    • Division IA: Michael Conte, Armen Petit, Anushka Sharma, Jack Lowden, Tyler McClintock-Comeaux, Taylor Latiolais, Virginia Gaither / Coaches: Rusheen Pettit, Beatrice Conte, Rachel Lowden
    • Division 2: Josilyn Seftchick, Grace Kelly, Marina Gzikowski, Matthew Earley, Peter Markovitz, Daniel Seewald, Carter McClintock-Comeaux / Coaches: Meridith Markovitz and Stacey Seewald
    Spontaneous problems are solved using on-the-spot creativity. During a competition, the problems are not revealed to a team until it enters the room, requiring team members to improvise and think on their feet.