Senior Barry Brunetti was honored in a House Joint Resolution in the chambers of the Tennessee House of Representatives followed by a presentation in the Senate chambers. State Representative G.A. Hardaway, Sr., sponsored a House Joint Resolution that recognizes the talents and successes of Brunetti.

Senior Cliff Guyton is a recipient of the Morehead-Cain Scholarship to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Morehead-Cain provides a full four-year scholarship covering tuition and all other normal expenses, a laptop computer, a fully funded, four-year Summer Enrichment Program, and Discovery Fund grants of up to $8,000 total to be used for additional educational opportunities. The value of the scholarship over the four years is approximately $140,000 for out-of-state residents. This is just one of many prestigious scholarships awarded to Guyton, who is considering his options and is happy to have received the Morehead-Cain.

Senior Ian Turner placed first in the saber competition in the Bluff City Open, an annual fencing event held at the University of Memphis. Freshman Drew Hutson placed fourth in the saber competition.

Captained by senior Colin Thomas, seniors Andrew Chinn and Will Taylor and sophomore Nicholas Rouse came in third place out of 50 teams in the Tennessee Science Bowl competition. The MUS team dominated the morning competition and easily advanced to the afternoon’s round. They lost to eventual state champion Oak Ridge High School, but beat the Webb School of Knoxville to come in third.

Seniors James Arnold, Will Carruthers, Brian Davidoff, Conner Davis, Trip Freeburg, Louis Jackson, Jon Kastan, Emmett Montgomery, Jake Rudolph, Colin Thomas, and Matt Williams and juniors Alex Jarratt, Jack Klug, Ethan Landau, Clint Montgomery, Chase Schoelkopf, Mason Soun, Kevin Szymkowicz, Richard Twardzik, and Jian Yin were inducted into the Cum Laude Society, the highest academic honor a high school student can receive.

Seniors Andrew Chinn, Josh Feler, Trip Freeburg, Cliff Guyton, Chase Harriman, Wade Laycook, Michael Lewandowski, Patrick Massey, Reid Sanders, Will Taylor, and Matt Williams were recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation as National Merit Finalists. These students represent 11 of the 15,000 students who will compete for 8,200 merit scholarships. They will be judged on their academic record, the school’s curriculum, two sets of test scores, written recommendations, extracurricular activities, and a written essay.

Senior Wade Laycook was selected as a weekly winner for English in The Commercial Appeal’s Academic All-Star competition. Laycook is an outstanding English, literature, and writing student. He is the editor of The Owls’ Hoot and is a member of the National Honor Society, the Cum Laude Society, the National Latin Honor Society, the National History Honor Society, and Quill and Scroll. Laycook is the seventh MUS student recognized as an Academic All-Star during the 2009-10 school year.

The Regional Science Olympiad Competition was held on Saturday, February 20, and the three MUS teams came away with a combined 21 first-place medals. The Lower School A team won first place in the region, with the B team coming in second. Together, the teams won 18 events, came in second in ten events, and won third place in eight events. The Upper School team won second place in the region, walking away with three first-place medals, five second-place medals, and five third-place medals.

Congratulations to the varsity swim team for winning the boys' division of the Shelby County Swim Championships for the second consecutive year. The 200-yard medley and 400-yard freestyle relays set new school records in their events. Both teams were composed of seniors Alexander Kaltenborn and Peterson Wellford, junior Andrew Kennedy, and sophomore Crews Wellford. Kaltenborn also won the 200-yard individual medley and set a county record in the 100-yard breaststroke.

At the Tennessee State High School Swim Championships in Nashville, MUS records were broken in the eight events. The relay team of seniors Alexander Kaltenborn and Peterson Wellford, junior Andrew Kennedy, and sophomore Crews Wellford broke records in both the 200-yard medley and the 400-yard free relays. Kaltenborn reset records in the 50-yard breaststroke, 100-yard breaststroke, and the 200-yard IM, while Crews Wellford broke records in the 200-yard freestyle, 50-yard backstroke, and 100-yard backstroke. MUS placed 15th out of almost 100 boys’ teams competing, which is the best finish ever for the varsity swim team at the state meet.

The Lower School swim team won the Shelby County Swim Championship for the second consecutive year. Congratulations to Coach Whitney Clark and the team.

The United States Fencing Association (USFA) announced its 2010 Fencing All-Academic Team, and five MUS students were among those honored. Senior Trip Freeburg and juniors Howard Choi, Chase Schoelkopf, and J.P. Wheeler made the First Team, and junior Matthias Leung made the Honorable Mention Team.

The Lower School MathCounts team of eighth graders Matthew Gayoso, William Lamb, and Garret Sullivan and seventh grader Richard Ouyang placed first in the regional MathCounts competition at the University of Memphis on Saturday, February 6. Overall, Ouyang was the top-ranked individual, and Sullivan finished second. In the countdown round, seventh grader Yunhua Zhao won first, and Sullivan finished in third place.

Five seniors signed commitment letters to play football in the fall. Barry Brunetti committed to West Virginia University, Hank Hill and Mitchell Thompson committed to Washington and Lee University, Christian Kauffman committed to the University of Alabama, and Keith McBride committed to the United States Naval Academy.

Seniors Stephond Allmond, Barry Brunetti, Drew Karban, Christian Kauffman, Hank Hill, Harrison Martin, and Jake Rudolph were named to the Division II-AA Tennessee Sports Writers Association (TSWA) All-State Football Team. The TSWA also recognized Coach Bobby Alston as the Division II-AA Coach of the Year.

Senior Colin Thomas was selected as a weekly winner for science in The Commercial Appeal’s Academic All-Star competition. Thomas is a top student and exceptional science scholar. He is the captain of the Science Bowl Team, a founding member of the Upper School Science Olympiad Team, and a past president of ChemClub. Thomas has been working with the University of Memphis Ground Water Institute (GWI) helping scientists study the aquifer that runs underneath Memphis. He is a member of the National Honor Society, the National Latin Honor Society, the National History Honor Society, and the Quill and Scroll. Thomas runs the high hurdles (110-meter) and the intermediate hurdles (300-meter) for the varsity track team and is also a member of the varsity bowling team.

Six MUS students and one alumnus qualified for the Junior Olympics in fencing at the Junior Olympic Qualifiers at Vanderbilt University on January 9.  Junior Chase Schoelkopf won in junior (U20) epee, with Skip Aymett ’08 coming in second, and senior Trip Freeburg coming in fifth. Senior Ben Smith won in junior saber, and junior J.P. Wheeler came in second in cadet (U17) epee. Freshman Alden Henderson came in fourth in cadet foil, and freshman Drew Hutson qualified in cadet saber. These students will compete in the Junior Olympics on February 12-15 at the Memphis Cook Convention Center.

MUS Art Instructor Grant Burke is the January 2010 Grizzlies Educator of the Month. Senior Joseph Amagliani submitted an essay to the Grizzlies explaining why his teacher should be given the honor. Both Amagliani and Burke received recognition at the Grizzlies game on Monday, January 18, and Burke was presented with a $1,000 gift card from Ashley Furniture HomeStore.

Seniors Cort Gatliff and Christian Kauffman have started the Water Cycle, a project to raise $50,000 to build ten wells that will provide clean water to people in Haiti. In order to do this, they are going to bike 2,700 miles across the country from March 4 to April 4. For more information, including their planned route and how you can support them, please visit their Web site.

Evan Baker, Kameron Bradley, Austin Magruder, Tate Solberg, and Avery Tosi had art on display at the Brooks Museum as part of an exhibition sponsored by Scholastic Magazine. At the awards ceremony on January 30, Solberg and Tosi receiveed Gold Keys and Baker, Bradley, and Magruder received Silver Keys. As Gold Key winners, Solberg and Tosi’s work will be photographed and digital images will be sent to the national judging in New York City.

Freshman Ben Taylor’s poem “Thank You and Goodbye” was published in Inspired, a compilation of poems published by The American Library of Poetry. The book was released in December. Taylor submitted his poem after learning about the opportunity from his English instructor, Jim Russell.

Senior Andrew Chinn is the sixth senior to be recognized by The Commercial Appeal’s Academic All-Stars competition. Chinn, who was the weekly winner in the mathematics category, is a National Merit Semifinalist and an AP Scholar with Distinction. He currently is one of only two students enrolled in Honors Accelerated Advanced Topics in Mathematics, a course equivalent to a third-semester college calculus class. Chinn is a member of the math team, the varsity football team, the Cum Laude Society, National Latin Honor Society, National History Honor Society, and co-president of Mu Alpha Theta.

Representatives from the MaxPreps Tour of Champions and the Army National Guard presented MUS with a trophy, which recognized the varsity football team as the 17th best team in the nation out of 16,000 for the 2009 high school football season. According to MaxPreps, the high school arm of CBS Sports, MUS is the only high school in the region, which includes Tennessee and Kentucky, to be honored by the Tour of Champions for both the 2008 and 2009 seasons.

The Commercial Appeal recognized senior Will Taylor as a First Tennessee Academic All-Star in the history competition. Taylor is a National Merit Semifinalist and member of the National Honor Society, Cum Laude Society, History Honor Society, and Latin Honor Society. He is president of the History Club and co-captain of both the Knowledge Bowl and Knowledge Masters teams.

Senior Michael Lewandowski was recognized by The Commercial Appeal as a First Tennessee Academic All-Stars in the art competition. Lewandowski is a National Merit Semifinalist, National Honor Society member, and co-captain of the varsity fencing team. The Student Council and other school organizations regularly depend on Lewandowski to design T-shirts and posters for school events. He recently submitted a portfolio of his artwork to Memphis College of Art and was selected to enroll in their AP Art class for high school students.

Athletic Director Bobby Alston was named Athletic Director of the Year by the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (TSSAA) as part of the 2008-09 A.F. Bridges Awards. The A.F. Bridges Awards are given annually to individuals who represent the best in high school athletics. MUS received an A.F. Bridges Divisional Award, given to schools that have had no reported unsportsmanlike conduct incidents during the previous school year and have displayed an overall positive effort to teach, expect, and demand a positive atmosphere of sportsmanship at their particular contests. The schools that received this prestigious award were nominated by local officials associations, other TSSAA member schools, and the Tennessee Observers Program for Sports (TOPS).

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has selected senior Cliff Guyton as a semifinalist for the prestigious Morehead-Cain Scholars Program Scholarship. Only 16 percent of program applicants become semifinalists. The Morehead-Cain provides a full four-year scholarship for recipients to UNC that includes an annual stipend covering full tuition and other educational expenses, totaling about $140,000. Other benefits include a laptop computer, summer enrichment programs, and Discovery Fund grants.

Senior Kelly Myers signed his official letter of intent to play baseball for Davidson College. Myers, a 2009 All-Region selection, will begin his fourth year as an outfielder with the Owls in the spring.

Senior Emmett Montgomery is the second MUS student honored this school year by The Commercial Appeal’s Academic All-Stars Competition. Montgomery won the week for foreign languages. He is a National Merit Commended Student and an AP Scholar with Honor. Montgomery has taken the National Spanish Exam every year and has ranked as high as third in the state. He attended MUS in Guatemala in 2008 and, soon after returning, volunteered for President Barack Obama’s campaign in Chicago and Miami, where he spent his school breaks and weekends communicating with Spanish-speaking constituents. He is an accomplished classical pianist and is working on a recital that includes pieces by Spanish, Latin, and Mexican composers.

Congratulations to senior Cliff Guyton, the general scholarship winner from MUS in the First Tennessee Academic All-Stars competition. Guyton is a National Merit Semifinalist, a National Hispanic Scholar, and the yearbook editor. He has been inducted into five honor societies and won gold medals each of the last three years on the National Spanish Exam. Guyton, who aspires to become a doctor, has spent the last two summers working in healthcare. During the summer of 2008, he helped start the Como Cuidar Su Corazon Program, which educates the Hispanic community about preventive heart health. This past summer, he worked at Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center in the infectious disease lab conducting research on bordetella pertussis. He co-authored a research paper on his findings and presented the paper at Le Bonheur Research Day.