Student Standouts for April 14, 2023

Freshman Wins 2nd in Junior Original Poetry Club Contest

Isabelle Cox-Garleanu ’26 was recognized recently by The Wednesday Club for winning second place in the 97th Annual Junior Original Poetry Contest, judged by distinguished author, poet, and university professor Denise Duhamel. Cox-Garleanu read her poem, Choose Your Own Adventure: Why My Mother Saw Kin’iro No Yuki (Golden Show), at an awards ceremony at The Wednesday Club on April 12.

This is part of her bio: “At the age of 14, I am able to say that I have been exposed to diversity more deeply and over longer periods than many other students. Born to a family with a Romanian father and Japanese mother, I have been spoken to in French and Japanese since birth. For as long as I can remember, my writing has always incorporated my multicultural background. When I was younger, I competed in and won Japanese speech contests in San Francisco. At the end of last year, I was awarded my school’s English award, which recognizes my literary achievements and analytical writing skills, and chosen to give a commencement speech at the graduation ceremony. As recently as this January, my multilingual personal memoir that I submitted to Scholastic Art and Writing Awards was recognized with the highest regional honor. Finally, the poem that I am looking forward to reading on April 12 is very inspired by the Japanese part of my upbringing.”

She also shared, “Ms. Jenn Sellenriek, Upper School English Teacher, was the one who submitted my poems. She also reviewed my submission for Scholastic Art and Writing, where I won a regional gold key. My work is currently being judged for national recognition. I am incredibly grateful to her.”

Cox-Garleanu placed second out of 10 student poets honored and out of 142 student submissions, and perfectly timed with National Poetry Month. Congratulations, Isabelle!

Ram Athletes Compete at Arcadia Invitational & Senior Dubbed as Top Athlete to Watch in Track & Field

Over the weekend, several of our Rams competed at the Arcadia Invitational in California. Congratulations to Maya Anderson ’23 who earned 4th place in the Girls Triple Jump and 5th place in the Girls 100 Meter Hurdles! Congratulations also to Julia Ray ’23 who raced to a time of 10:48.80 in the Girls 3200 Meter!

There were four Ram athletes who qualified for Arcadia. In addition to Anderson and Ray, Winston Moore ’23 and Nicole Green ’25 also qualified but couldn’t compete due to injuries. To qualify, the student-athletes not only had to meet a high standard mark in their event but also had to be selected from those who applied for the event.

Arcadia Invitational is one of, if not the most competitive, High School Track & Field meets in the country. The standards are incredibly high to qualify and the competition is fierce. A total of 690 schools were registered amongst 36 states, which were both records for Arcadia.

Anderson was also highlighted in this article in The St. Louis American as one of the top girl athletes to watch in track & field this spring. She is a University of Kentucky signee and a two-time state champion in the 300-meter low hurdles and triple jump in last year’s Class 5 State meet.

First Mixed Track & Field Relay Sets School Record

Amir Muhammad ’24, Liam McCarthy ’24, Abby Wyckoff ’24, and Sophia Goodwin ’25 competed in the very first Mixed 4×400 Relay at the Henle Holmes invitational, setting a school record of 4:06.82. Congratulations, Rams!