by Andrew Alonzo | aalonzo@claremont-courier.com

El Roble Intermediate School students Marjorie Barndt and Thijmen Post, and Elite Sports Institute’s Mary Jane Erb returned from last month’s 2024 World Scholar’s Cup Tournament of Champions at Yale University with a combined 20 individual and team medals.

Yale International Relations Association hosted the event in New Haven, Connecticut November 14-20, with hundreds of teams from around the world competing in a challenging mix of academic and artistic competitions.

(L-R) Elite Sports Institute student Mary Jane Erb takes a selfie with El Roble Intermediate students Marjorie Barndt and Thijmen Post at last month’s World Scholar’s Cup Tournament of Champions at Yale University. Photo/courtesy of John Erb

The Claremont trio, known as “team 568,” came in 8th in the top CanZuk USA teams division, 64th in scholar’s bowl, 162nd in debate, and 196th in writing.

Marjorie took gold in the scholar’s challenge, art, literature, and special area categories. Mary Jane won gold in debate and writing, and silver in literature. Thijmen brought home silver in debate.

“It was really great to be there,” Thijmen said of the experience. “I really didn’t expect we would place so high in the North American division.”

The team finished eighth at the World Scholar’s Cup’s global round in Stockholm, which earned it a trip to the Tournament of Champions at Yale.

At the Los Angeles regionals in April, a team made of Marjorie, Mary Jane and Charlie Rapp of El Roble finished sixth, and Thijmen, with Alaina Casillas of El Roble and Andrew Casillas of Condit Elementary, finished 15^th.

Full results from both competitions are at scholarscup.org/results.

The Yale tournament will be the last in the junior division for Marjorie and Mary Jane, who will both be 14 by the time the next competition rolls around. Thijmen will be 13, and will remain eligible.

“The big problem for Marjorie and MJ is that they will have to compete against the juggernaut La Salle students who just finished 10th in the world,” wrote John Erb, an English teacher and academic decathlon coach at La Salle College Preparatory, in an email Wednesday. “The good news is that they share the same resources and have the same coach.”