Desire, discipline and dedication propelled the St. Lawrence Martyr School Decathlon Team to the title of Overall State Champion at the 16th annual Catholic Academic Junior High Decathlon State Finals, held May 6 at Serra School in Rancho Santa Margarita.

The Redondo Beach school represented the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, against nine other schools representing the California dioceses of Fresno, Monterey, Orange, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose and Santa Rosa. St. Lawrence Martyr earned the right to compete after winning first place overall among 108 Los Angeles Archdiocese Catholic Schools on March 18, at the Los Angeles Sports Arena.

"It just goes to show that nothing is impossible with God at your side," said head coach Kathy Wise. "He has been guiding us throughout all our hard work and preparation. The morning of the decathlon we prayed together and dedicated the day to God's glory."

Winning the state tile "was completely unexpected," she said. "It is a testament to God to have faith and go where he calls you to be, throw yourself in with your whole heart, and he will reward you tenfold."

The St. Lawrence Martyr team, since last summer, spent countless hours before and after school as well as on weekends working together and independently preparing for the competition. "We are exceedingly proud of the collaborative achievement of these students who represent our school," said principal Shannon Gomez.

In addition to the overall title, the team finished second in Logic and third in Super Quiz. Students earning individual first place awards were J.P. Anderson, Mathematics; Dana Olson, Religion; Briana Wise, Social Studies; Andrew Petersen, Fine Arts; and team captain Patrick Lee (with a perfect score), Current Events.

Also earning placement awards: Matthew Garrett, 9th in English; Elizabeth Arevalo, 7th in Literature; and Christopher Miro, 4th Science. The team also included Ali McCandless, Marissa Peterson, Kyle Rahill and Kelsey Sherman. Head coach Kathryn Wise was assisted by Diane and Michael Petersen and Vivian Lee.

The Academic Junior High Decathlon was the brainchild of Dr. Mark Ryan in 1989. Today the 2006 AJHD still honors his goals to promote academic excellence, collaborative spirit, cooperative learning skills and logical higher-order thinking, while recognizing the contributions of parents, teachers, school administrators and community members in supporting high standards for all students.