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The Graves County Eagles Academic Team came away with top honors once again at the high school District Tournament recently at Mayfield High School.

For the third year in a row, GCHS won both the quick recall and overall team award, in addition to taking first place in six of the eight individual events.

The day was highlighted when the Eagles defeated rival Ballard Memorial by a score of 28 to 6 in the district final match, earning the top seed at the upcoming regional tournament. "This is a big win for us," said head coach Jeremy Krug. "Ballard beat us earlier this year, but we've been practicing and working all season, and that hard work paid off for us. We have the youngest team in the region, but our freshmen and sophomores are beating the juniors and seniors from other schools."

The victory was led by sophomore Matthew Woods with seven toss-up points, followed by junior Matthew Lee and freshman Emily Goddard, scoring five points each.

Nearly every member of the varsity academic team placed in individual events. Sophomore Logan Elliott was crowned the district math champion, with Matthew Woods and Jackie Burgess also placing. Junior Matthew Lee won the social studies division, with Ben Mathis and Grayson Dietz placing second and third, respectively. Freshman Emily Goddard took top honors in both the language arts and arts and humanities competitions. Austin Haley and Grayson Dietz also advanced in arts and humanities, and Austin Haley took fifth place in language arts. Sophomores Alec McClain and Matthew Woods advanced in the science division. Junior Amilyn Thurston advanced to regionals in the written composition division.

The academic team practices for months answering "toss-up" and "bonus" questions in a quick recall format, as well as taking rigorous exams that would stump even most college students. Their coaches are Jeremy Krug and Lynda Hiles.

The next hurdle will be the regional tournament, to be held at McCracken County High School on Saturday, Feb. 14, starting at 10:45 a.m. Admission is free.​

Graves County High School Academic Team members pictured, from left, are Alec McClain, Matthew Lee, Emily Goddard, Matthew Woods, Jackie Burgess, Grayson Dietz, Austin Haley, and Ben Mathis. Not pictured are Amilyn Thurston and Logan Elliott.