| Little Elm High School
|
|
|
| School Founded |
|
| Team Established |
2005, 2016
|
| History |
|
| City |
Little Elm, Texas
|
| Team Colors |
Navy and Gold
|
| Principal |
Renee Pentecost
|
| Head Coach |
Kelly Shackelton
|
| Associate/Other Head Coach(es) |
Jason Hiller, Jessi Vericker
|
| National Championships |
None
|
| State Championships |
None
|
| Regional/County Championships |
1 (2016)
|
| Region/County Location |
Region IV (2016), Region VIII (2017)
|
| Highest Finish |
45,699.6 5th (2018)
|
| School Website |
http://www.littleelmisd.net/
|
School Profile
Little Elm High School is a public high school located in the city of Little Elm, Texas, United States and classified as a 5A school by the University Interscholastic League (UIL). It is a part of the Little Elm Independent School District located in east central Denton County. In 2015, the school was rated "Met Standard" by the Texas Education Agency. -Wikipedia
Team History
Little Elm's Academic Decathlon program was founded during the 2005-2006 season. They competed in the small school competition in Region XII, where they placed 4th overall, qualifying them for state. There, the team fielded a little over 26,000 points, placing them in 15th place. The team had another run until the end of the 2006-2007 season, when it was disbanded until its resurrection in the 2015. Sean Duffey, previously the assistant coach at South Garland High School, and Julie Brown, previously the coach at Aubrey High School, built a new team from scratch and won first place in the Region IV competition with a score of 42,000, breaking the streak of a team that has won their regional competition for the last 7 years. Duffey and his team would later go on to state, fielding a score of 45,422.7 points and placing 6th overall in the Medium School Category. Duffey, after three years of hard work, decided to for fill his dream and moved to Colorado. He has left the team in the hands of Mrs. Kelly Shackelton, Jason Hiller, and Jessi Vericker.
Team Finishes
| Year |
Division |
Regionals Score |
Region Rank |
State Score |
State Rank
|
| 2023 |
Large |
23,469 |
12 |
DNQ |
DNQ
|
| 2022 |
Large |
30,396 |
7 |
DNQ |
DNQ
|
| 2021 |
Medium |
N/A |
N/A |
32,226.5 |
|
| 2020 |
Medium |
34,045.4 |
7 |
DNQ |
DNQ
|
| 2019 |
Medium |
36,924.2 |
4 |
39,682.0 |
20
|
| 2018 |
Medium |
44,297.8 |
4 |
45,699.6 |
5
|
| 2017 |
Medium |
45,444.1 |
3 |
45,801.1 |
6
|
| 2016 |
Medium |
42,267.1 |
1 |
45,422.7 |
6
|
| 2007- 2015 |
- |
DNC |
DNC |
DNC |
DNC
|
| 2006 |
Small |
27,529 |
5 |
27,266.7 |
12
|
| 2005 |
Small |
Unknown |
4 |
26,054.1 |
15
|
Individual State Scores
Updated as of 2018.
Honors
| Rank |
Student |
Year |
Score
|
| 1 |
Diego Raygoza |
2018 |
8,387.1
|
| 2 |
Daniel Cardenas |
2017 |
8,301.9
|
| 3 |
Joshua Arrojado |
2017 |
8,103.3
|
| 4 |
Ryan Wong |
2017 |
8,021.7
|
| 5 |
Melodie Malithong |
2018 |
7,931.0
|
Scholastic
| Rank |
Student |
Year |
Score
|
| 1 |
Jake "Paul" Mooney |
2017 |
8,117.0
|
| 2 |
Jake "Paul" Mooney |
2016 |
8,004.7
|
| 3 |
Cesar Guerrero |
2018 |
7,466.1
|
| 4 |
Dennis Mills |
2018 |
7,453.4
|
| 5 |
Nabihah Shah |
2017 |
7,219.9
|
Varsity
| Rank |
Student |
Year |
Score
|
| 1 |
James Cope |
2016 |
7,589.0
|
| 2 |
Katy Laitinen |
2018 |
7,487.0
|
| 3 |
Tessa Castellow |
2016 |
7,349.7
|
| 4 |
Trevor Jackson |
2017 |
7,047.6
|
| 5 |
Matthew Musteen |
2017 |
7,011.4
|
Overall Objective Scores
Honors
| Rank |
Student |
Year |
Score
|
| 1 |
Daniel Cardenas |
2017 |
6,142.9
|
| 2 |
Diego Raygoza |
2018 |
5,877.1
|
| 3 |
Joshua Arrojado |
2017 |
5,788.6
|
| 4 |
Melodie Malithong |
2018 |
5,520.0
|
| 5 |
Ryan Wong |
2017 |
5,431.4
|
Scholastic
| Rank |
Student |
Year |
Score
|
| 1 |
Jake Mooney |
2017 |
5,525.7
|
| 2 |
Jake Mooney |
2016 |
5,451.4
|
| 3 |
Dennis Mills |
2018 |
5,051.4
|
| 4 |
Cesar Guerrero |
2018 |
4,897.1
|
| 5 |
Mirna Ordonez |
2018 |
4,868.6
|
Varsity
| Rank |
Student |
Year |
Score
|
| 1 |
Katy Laitinen |
2018 |
4,920.0
|
| 2 |
James Cope |
2016 |
4,911.5
|
| 3 |
Tessa Castellow |
2016 |
4,891.4
|
| 4 |
Britney Meighen |
2018 |
4,680.0
|
| 5 |
Trevor Jackson |
2017 |
4,474.2
|
Individual Objective Scores
Social Science
Honors
| Rank |
Student |
Year |
Score
|
| 1 |
Melodie Malithong |
2018 |
940
|
| 2 |
Melissa Chitakunye |
2018 |
900
|
| 3 |
Josh Arrojado |
2017 |
860
|
| 4 |
Daniel Cardenas |
2017 |
840
|
| 4 |
Diego Raygoza |
2018 |
840
|
| 5 |
Emily Garcia |
2016 |
740
|
Scholastic
| Rank |
Student |
Year |
Score
|
| 1 |
Dennis Mills |
2018 |
780
|
| 2 |
Jake Mooney |
2017 |
760
|
| 2 |
Mirna Ordonez |
2018 |
760
|
| 3 |
Cesar Guerrero |
2018 |
660
|
| 4 |
Jake Mooney |
2016 |
520
|
| 4 |
Nabihah Shah |
2017 |
520
|
| 5 |
Tinashe Gandhle |
2016 |
500
|
| 5 |
Daniel Larin |
2017 |
500
|
Varsity
| Rank |
Student |
Year |
Score
|
| 1 |
Katy Laitinen |
2018 |
880
|
| 2 |
James Cope |
2016 |
800
|
| 3 |
Britney Meighen |
2018 |
700
|
| 4 |
Matthew Musteen |
2017 |
680
|
| 5 |
Tessa Castellow |
2016 |
660
|
Economics
Honors
| Rank |
Student |
Year |
Score
|
| 1 |
Daniel Cardenas |
2017 |
940
|
| 2 |
Emily Garcia |
2016 |
880
|
| 2 |
Josh Arrojado |
2017 |
880
|
| 3 |
Ryan Wong |
2016 |
840
|
| 3 |
Elanna Merrill |
2016 |
840
|
| 3 |
Ryan Wong |
2017 |
840
|
| 4 |
Diego Raygoza |
2018 |
780
|
| 5 |
Melissa Chitakunye |
2018 |
680
|
Scholastic
| Rank |
Student |
Year |
Score
|
| 1 |
Jake Mooney |
2016 |
940
|
| 1 |
Blake Warner |
2016 |
940
|
| 2 |
Jake Mooney |
2017 |
880
|
| 3 |
Daniel Larin |
2017 |
840
|
| 4 |
Nabihah Shah |
2017 |
740
|
| 5 |
Tinashe Gandhle |
2016 |
620
|
Varsity
| Rank |
Student |
Year |
Score
|
| 1 |
Tessa Castellow |
2016 |
860
|
| 2 |
James Cope |
2016 |
840
|
| 3 |
Matthew Musteen |
2016 |
820
|
| 4 |
Trevor Jackson |
2017 |
760
|
| 5 |
Matthew Musteen |
2017 |
740
|
| 5 |
Joshua Kint |
2017 |
740
|
Art
Honors
| Rank |
Student |
Year |
Score
|
| 1 |
Ryan Wong |
2017 |
920
|
| 2 |
Josh Arrojado |
2017 |
880
|
| 2 |
Melissa Chitakunye |
2018 |
880
|
| 3 |
Diego Raygoza |
2018 |
820
|
| 3 |
Melodie Malithong |
2018 |
820
|
| 4 |
Daniel Cardenas |
2017 |
760
|
| 5 |
Emily Garcia |
2016 |
640
|
| 5 |
Ryan Wong |
2016 |
640
|
Scholastic
| Rank |
Student |
Year |
Score
|
| 1 |
Jake Mooney |
2017 |
800
|
| 1 |
Dennis Mills |
2018 |
800
|
| 2 |
Nabihah Shah |
2017 |
720
|
| 2 |
Mirna Ordonez |
2018 |
720
|
| 3 |
Jake Mooney |
2016 |
680
|
| 4 |
Cesar Guerrero |
2018 |
660
|
| 5 |
Blake Warner |
2016 |
600
|
Varsity
| Rank |
Student |
Year |
Score
|
| 1 |
Matthew Musteen |
2017 |
700
|
| 1 |
Joshua Kint |
2017 |
700
|
| 2 |
Tessa Castellow |
2016 |
680
|
| 3 |
Katy Laitinen |
2018 |
640
|
| 4 |
James Cope |
2016 |
560
|
| 4 |
Britney Meighen |
2018 |
560
|
| 5 |
Trevor Jackson |
2017 |
540
|
Music
Honors
| Rank |
Student |
Year |
Score
|
| 1 |
Daniel Cardenas |
2017 |
900
|
| 2 |
Diego Raygoza |
2018 |
860
|
| 3 |
Josh Arrojado |
2017 |
820
|
| 4 |
Ryan Wong |
2017 |
780
|
| 5 |
Melodie Malithong |
2018 |
760
|
Scholastic
| Rank |
Student |
Year |
Score
|
| 1 |
Cesar Guerrero |
2018 |
800
|
| 2 |
Dennis Mills |
2018 |
740
|
| 3 |
Jake Mooney |
2016 |
720
|
| 3 |
Daniel Larin |
2017 |
720
|
| 3 |
Nabihah Shah |
2017 |
720
|
| 3 |
Mirna Ordonez |
2018 |
720
|
| 4 |
Jake Mooney |
2017 |
680
|
| 5 |
Unknown |
2006 |
480
|
Varsity
| Rank |
Student |
Year |
Score
|
| 1 |
Britney Meighen |
2018 |
780
|
| 2 |
Katy Laitinen |
2018 |
720
|
| 3 |
Trevor Jackson |
2017 |
700
|
| 4 |
Joshua Kint |
2017 |
640
|
| 5 |
James Cope |
2016 |
600
|
| 5 |
Joseph Startz |
2018 |
600
|
Literature
Honors
| Rank |
Student |
Year |
Score
|
| 1 |
Diego Raygoza |
2018 |
900
|
| 2 |
Melissa Chitakunye |
2018 |
860
|
| 3 |
Emily Garcia |
2016 |
840
|
| 3 |
Melodie Malithong |
2018 |
840
|
| 4 |
Ryan Wong |
2016 |
800
|
| 5 |
Elanna Merrill |
2016 |
740
|
Scholastic
| Rank |
Student |
Year |
Score
|
| 1 |
Jake Mooney |
2016 |
840
|
| 2 |
Cesar Guerrero |
2018 |
820
|
| 3 |
Blake Warner |
2016 |
780
|
| 3 |
Mirna Ordonez |
2018 |
780
|
| 4 |
Dennis Mills |
2018 |
680
|
| 5 |
Tinashe Gandhle |
2016 |
640
|
Varsity
| Rank |
Student |
Year |
Score
|
| 1 |
Britney Meighen |
2018 |
820
|
| 2 |
Katy Laitinen |
2018 |
780
|
| 3 |
Tessa Castellow |
2016 |
760
|
| 4 |
James Cope |
2016 |
660
|
| 5 |
Joseph Startz |
2018 |
620
|
Science
Honors
| Rank |
Student |
Year |
Score
|
| 1 |
Ryan Wong |
2016 |
880
|
| 1 |
Emily Garcia |
2016 |
880
|
| 2 |
Elanna Merril |
2016 |
840
|
| 3 |
Diego Raygoza |
2018 |
820
|
| 4 |
Melodie Malithong |
2018 |
760
|
| 5 |
Melissa Chitakunye |
2018 |
680
|
Scholastic
| Rank |
Student |
Year |
Score
|
| 1 |
Jake Mooney |
2016 |
980
|
| 2 |
Blake Warner |
2016 |
960
|
| 3 |
Cesar Guerrero |
2018 |
700
|
| 4 |
Tinashe Gandhle |
2016 |
680
|
| 4 |
Dennis Mills |
2018 |
680
|
| 5 |
Mirna Ordonez |
2018 |
660
|
Varsity
| Rank |
Student |
Year |
Score
|
| 1 |
James Cope |
2016 |
880
|
| 2 |
Tessa Castellow |
2016 |
860
|
| 3 |
Matthew Musteen |
2016 |
820
|
| 4 |
Katy Laitinen |
2018 |
780
|
| 5 |
Britney Meighen |
2018 |
720
|
Mathematics
Honors
| Rank |
Student |
Year |
Score
|
| 1 |
Diego Raygoza |
2018 |
857.1
|
| 2 |
Melodie Malithong |
2018 |
800.0
|
| 3 |
Ryan Wong |
2016 |
657.1
|
| 3 |
Melissa Chitakunye |
2018 |
657.1
|
| 4 |
Holly Roby |
2005 |
440.0
|
| 5 |
Elanna Merrill |
2016 |
428.6
|
| 5 |
Emily Garcia |
2016 |
428.6
|
Scholastic
| Rank |
Student |
Year |
Score
|
| 1 |
Jake Mooney |
2016 |
771.4
|
| 1 |
Dennis Mills |
2018 |
771.4
|
| 2 |
Cesar Guerrero |
2018 |
657.1
|
| 3 |
Blake Warner |
2016 |
628.6
|
| 3 |
Mirna Ordonez |
2018 |
628.6
|
| 4 |
Unknown |
2006 |
457.1
|
Varsity
| Rank |
Student |
Year |
Score
|
| 1 |
Joseph Startz |
2018 |
657.1
|
| 2 |
Katy Laitinen |
2018 |
600.0
|
| 2 |
Britney Meighen |
2018 |
600.0
|
| 3 |
James Cope |
2016 |
571.4
|
| 3 |
Tessa Castellow |
2016 |
571.4
|
| 4 |
Ryan Fisher |
2005 |
320.0
|
| 5 |
Unknown |
2006 |
314.3
|
| 5 |
Matthew Musteen |
2016 |
314.3
|
Overall Subjective Scores
Honors
| Rank |
Student |
Year |
Score
|
| 1 |
Ryan Wong |
2016 |
2,687.0
|
| 2 |
Ryan Wong |
2017 |
2,590.3
|
| 3 |
Elanna Merrill |
2016 |
2,510.0
|
| 3 |
Diego Raygoza |
2018 |
2,510.0
|
| 4 |
Emily Garcia |
2016 |
2,462.0
|
| 5 |
Melodie Malithong |
2018 |
2,411.0
|
Scholastic
| Rank |
Student |
Year |
Score
|
| 1 |
Jake Mooney |
2017 |
2,591.3
|
| 2 |
Cesar Guerrero |
2018 |
2,569.0
|
| 3 |
Jake Mooney |
2016 |
2,553.3
|
| 4 |
Daniel Larin |
2017 |
2,551.0
|
| 5 |
Blake Warner |
2016 |
2,548.0
|
Varsity
| Rank |
Student |
Year |
Score
|
| 1 |
James Cope |
2016 |
2,677.6
|
| 2 |
Matthew Musteen |
2017 |
2,580.0
|
| 3 |
Trevor Jackson |
2017 |
2,573.4
|
| 4 |
Katy Laitinen |
2018 |
2,567.0
|
| 5 |
Joshua Kint |
2017 |
2,512.7
|
Individual Subjective Scores
Speech
Honors
| Rank |
Student |
Year |
Score
|
| 1 |
Diego Raygoza |
2018 |
925.0
|
| 2 |
Melodie Malithong |
2018 |
900.0
|
| 3 |
Elanna Merrill |
2016 |
883.3
|
| 4 |
Ryan Wong |
2016 |
853.3
|
| 5 |
Emily Garcia |
2016 |
836.7
|
Scholastic
| Rank |
Student |
Year |
Score
|
| 1 |
Cesar Guerrero |
2018 |
945.0
|
| 2 |
Tinashe Gandhle |
2016 |
940.0
|
| 3 |
Dennis Mills |
2018 |
915.0
|
| 4 |
Blake Warner |
2016 |
906.7
|
| 5 |
Blanca Ramirez |
2005 |
806.7
|
Varsity
| Rank |
Student |
Year |
Score
|
| 1 |
Joseph Startz |
2018 |
955.0
|
| 2 |
James Cope |
2016 |
913.3
|
| 3 |
Katy Laitinen |
2018 |
880.0
|
| 4 |
Britney Meighen |
2018 |
855.0
|
| 5 |
Matthew Musteen |
2016 |
800.0
|
Interview
Honors
| Rank |
Student |
Year |
Score
|
| 1 |
Melissa Chitakunye |
2018 |
990.0
|
| 2 |
Ryan Wong |
2016 |
946.7
|
| 3 |
Diego Raygoza |
2018 |
930.0
|
| 4 |
Jacob Brennecke |
2005 |
916.7
|
| 5 |
Holly Roby |
2005 |
910.0
|
Scholastic
| Rank |
Student |
Year |
Score
|
| 1 |
Jake Mooney |
2016 |
980.0
|
| 2 |
Blake Warner |
2016 |
973.3
|
| 3 |
Unknown |
2006 |
900.0
|
| 4 |
Cesar Guerrero |
2018 |
720.0
|
| 5 |
Mirna Ordonez |
2018 |
700.0
|
Varsity
| Rank |
Student |
Year |
Score
|
| 1 |
Tessa Castellow |
2016 |
973.3
|
| 2 |
James Cope |
2016 |
943.3
|
| 3 |
Katy Laitinen |
2018 |
890.0
|
| 4 |
Matthew Musteen |
2016 |
850.0
|
| 5 |
Joseph Startz |
2018 |
780.0
|
Essay
Honors
| Rank |
Student |
Year |
Score
|
| 1 |
Ryan Wong |
2016 |
887
|
| 2 |
Elanna Merril |
2016 |
750
|
| 3 |
Emily Garcia |
2016 |
742
|
| 4 |
Diego Raygoza |
2018 |
655
|
| 5 |
Melodie Malithong |
2018 |
641
|
Scholastic
| Rank |
Student |
Year |
Score
|
| 1 |
Mirna Ordonez |
2018 |
914
|
| 2 |
Cesar Guerrero |
2018 |
904
|
| 3 |
Dennis Mills |
2018 |
817
|
| 4 |
Jake Mooney |
2016 |
770
|
| 5 |
Blanca Ramirez |
2005 |
688
|
Varsity
| Rank |
Student |
Year |
Score
|
| 1 |
James Cope |
2016 |
821
|
| 2 |
Katy Laitinen |
2018 |
797
|
| 3 |
Tessa Castellow |
2016 |
775
|
| 4 |
Britney Meighen |
2018 |
730
|
| 5 |
Sam Roberts |
2005 |
725
|
