Hundreds of sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders from the Mehlville School District recently matched wits at the 23rd annual Middle School Academic Olympic Day at Margaret Buerkle Middle School.

After an afternoon of intense competition, 38 medals were awarded to pupils in five different events, according to a Mehlville School District news release.

Cassi Greenlee of Oakville captured first place in the Oratory competition. Markus Zomphier of Buerkle of finished second, with Luke Rasure of Buerkle and Matt Rice of Washington finishing in a tie for third place.

In the writing competition, Buerkle’s Lisa Holmes came in first. Claire Tichenor of Oakville earned second place and Maggie Zehner of Bernard finished third, the release stated.

The spelling competition featured sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade divisions.

Steven Trebus of Oakville captured the first-place medal for sixth-graders, Noreen Vohra of Bernard finished first among seventh-graders and Paulina Chu of Bernard won the first-place medal in the eighth-grade division.

In the math competition, Lauren Chapman of Oakville finished first in the sixth-grade division, Dan Levine of Washington earned the first-place medal in the seventh-grade division and Wesley Grass of Bernard won first place among eighth-graders.

The highlight of Academic Olympic Day for many is the Scholar Quiz competition, according to the news release.

The Scholar Quiz champion was the Washington “B” team, featuring Margaret Buehler, Michael Wisely, Stephanie Rapisardo and Kelly Schuering.

Bringing home second-place medals were Christy Chamberlin, Ryan Metzger, Tim O’Neill and Alex Schatt of the Buerkle “C” team.

Third place at this year’s Academic Olympic Day was awarded to the Bernard “A” team that was comprised of Jon Gannon, Matt Hegel, Travis Zimpfer and John Twillmann.