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N.D. (NewsDakota.com) Jamestown High School #1 team won the state LifeSmarts championship, and will be representing North Dakota in the national competition to be held later this year in Georgia. The students from Northern Cass High School took second place and New England Public School took third.

The eight high school teams completed in several elimination rounds before the top three teams advanced to the final round. The Jamestown #1 team quickly gained an unbeatable lead, but Northern Cass and New England schools had to battle through two tie-breaker rounds to decide the final place standing.

Competing students answered questions in five subject areas – personal finance, health and safety, the environment, technology, and consumer rights and responsibilities – such as “Your friend was hit in the head with a baseball and you are concerned he might have a concussion. What should you do?” (The answer: “Get him to the doctor immediately, keep him alert, and do not let him go to sleep.”)

The State Champion team members are: Declan O’Higgins (Captain), Kelsey Becker, Zach Fossen, Kyle Gee and Mariah Schlenker, led by Coach Marchel Krieger. These same five students competed as Jamestown’s #2 team last year. They won the 2012 state competition and competed in the national competition in Philadelphia.

Asked about the team’s secret for success, team captain Declan O’Higgins said “We spend about three or four hours a week studying.” Team member Zach Fossen said, “We’re really excited to go back[to nationals.”

Parrell Grossman, Director of the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division, and Question Master for the competition, was very impressed with all the participants. “The contestants this year were very prepared.  The national competition will be held April 20-23, 2013, in Atlanta, Georgia.