West Shore Latin students participated in the yearly annual State Latin Forum on April 19 -21 hung in against fierce competition.

“Thursday night we swept the tables,” Latin teacher Timothy O’Flaherty said. “The academic stuff is really really tough to beat.

West Shore faced challenging teams during the event.

“We were up against this school called Oak Hall and they were just brutal,” O’Flaherty said. “While Oak Hall is still dominating, our point output keeps going up each year. We’ve got a lot of work to retool ourselves so we can beat them at their own game.

Some believe that West Shore could have the chance to become more involved in the future.

“I would like to see West Shore’s involvement increase,” O’Flaherty said. “The only event we haven’t participated in because I don’t think we’re ready is the National Latin Forum. “It’s a big deal. We’re not ready to take the big leap to go to Nationals, but it’s on the agenda. I’d like to target that for next year. My longterm goal is to go to Nationals and beat Oak Hall.

West Shore students’ results are as follows:

Latin I: Izzy Pearson — fifth place, Open Certamen (Beginner); Jack Quincy — seventh place, Open Certamen (Beginner), seventh place, Creative: Non-Graphic Two-Dimension Art (a Mosaic) and 10^th place, Academic Exam: Beginner Latin Grammar I. Latin II (Intermediate): Jack Baptist — fifth place, Academic Exam: Intermediate Latin Grammar, eighth place, Academic Exam: History of the Roman Republic (Intermediate), eighth place, Closed Certamen Intermediate (Primary Player); Daryn Cook — eighth place, Closed Certamen Intermediate (Primary Player); Chris Jenkins —  third place, Academic Exam: Heptathlon (Intermediate), sixth place, Academic Exam: Intermediate Latin Grammar and eighth place, Closed Certamen (Primary Player); Lance Obst — first place, Creative Model: Roman Ballista (A Roman Legionary “Cannon”), second place, Open Certamen (Intermediate), eighth place, Closed Certamen Intermediate (Alternate Player); Sirish Ojha — eighth place, Closed Certamen Intermediate (Primary Player). Latin Advanced (Latinae Honores III atque IV): Arianna Issitt — first place, Miscellaneous (Classical Jewelry); Jameson Isom — ninth place, Open Certamen (Advanced); Andrew Kohler — fourth place, Academic Exam: Classical Art (Advanced); MacKenzey Kologlu — first place, Creative: Charts & Posters; Gabriel Schwartz — sixth place, Miscellaneous (Reproduction of Roman Legionary Chainmail); Walter Wilinsky —  sixth place, Academic Exam: Latin Grammar (Advanced), sixth Place, Academic Exam: Latin Poetry (Advanced).

By Krystal Macom