Posted: 1/21/2010
On Jan. 16, two Whitefield teams competed in the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) Holiday Chess Tournament held in Atlanta. Whitefield Academy sent two teams who finished strong with the K-5 team placing second overall and the K-3 team securing third place.
Third grader Connor Miller led the primary team with three points and finished 14th in the individual standings. He was joined by Jake Petersen who received three points and finished in 19th place. Kindergartner Zoe Justice had two-and-a-half points and third grader Luke Petersen received two points—contributing to the strong team finish. Third grader Caleb Corliss and first graders Jack Krahel and Lauren Miller rounded out the team with one point each in a tough field of competition.
Fifth grader Daniel Justice led the K-5 team with four points and also brought home a third place individual trophy—matching his third place finish in the same tournament one year ago. Third grader Zachary Justice contributed three-and-a-half points joined by fourth grader Stephen Hellier with two points. Fifth graders Jackson Hofmann and Carson Brown also contributed to the team's total of eleven-and-a-half points and a second place finish overall.
Both teams will compete in the regional tournament in February, hoping to earn an invitation to the state championship tournament in March. Historically, the MLK Holiday Chess Tournament is the strongest scholastic tournament held in the state; both the primary (K-3) and elementary (K-5) divisions had over 60 participants in each section.
