Student Standouts: Li ’28, Guan ’30, Gong ’31, Zhu ’31, Gardner ’31, Hosto ’30, Mock Trial, Robotics, Boys Basketball, Girls Basketball, and Field Hockey Players
Congratulations to this week’s standouts below. Way to go #RamNation! And as always, if you have a story to share, please email weeklynews@micds.org.
Sophomore Advances to the National Chemistry Olympiad Exam
Andrew Li ’28 recently took the U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad (USNCO) St. Louis Local Exam. As a finalist of the competition, he was invited to participate in the National Exam in April.
Sponsored by the American Chemical Society, the USNCO is a multi-tiered competition designed to stimulate and promote achievement in high school chemistry.
Dr. Bruce Hamper, the Chemistry Olympiad Coordinator of the ACS St. Louis section, says, Li is “one of the top contestants in the Chemistry Olympiad Local Exam – St. Louis Section. We had over 70 students participate in the local exams during the month of March. He had one of the top scores and is therefore eligible to take the National Exam.”
Li says, “It is my great honor to represent MICDS at the national level and demonstrate the academic excellence at the school.”
Way to go, Andrew!
Four Middle Schoolers Compete in the International Academic Competition’s Central Missouri Regional Bees
On Saturday, March 14, four MICDS seventh and eighth-grade students traveled to Ashland, Missouri to compete in the International Academic Competition’s Central Missouri Regional Bees. Boyka Guan ’30, Angela Gong ’31, and Selena Zhu ’31 competed in the Science, History, and Geography Bees. Ainsley Gardner ’31 competed in the Science and History Bees.
Science Bee Results:
8th Grade
Guan – 2nd place (national and international qualifier)
7th Grade
Gardner – 1st place (national and international qualifier)
Gong – 2nd place (national and international qualifier)
Zhu – 3rd place (national qualifier)
History Bee Results:
8th Grade
Guan – 2nd place (national and international qualifier)
7th Grade
Gong – 1st place (national and international qualifier)
Gardner – 3rd place (national and international qualifier)
Geography Bee Results:
8th Grade
Guan – 3rd place (national and international qualifier)
7th Grade
Gong – 1st place (national and international qualifier)
Zhu – 2nd place (national and international qualifier)
Gardner shared, “Competing in the International Academic Competition Bees was such a special experience. It was the perfect way to challenge my academic skills while having a wonderful time with other people who are just as curious about learning as I am.”
Eighth Grader Competes at 2026 USA Hockey National Championship
Congratulations to Elliott Hosto ’30, who traveled to New York over spring break for the 2026 USA Hockey National Championship. The 14U AAA St. Louis Lady Blues were the Central District Champions, which qualified them for Nationals. Great Job, Elliott and team!
Mock Trial Competes at State
On March 27-28, the MICDS Mock Trial team competed at State Championships in downtown St. Louis. The team advanced to the quarterfinals, which include the top eight schools in the state. Although they lost their trial against Clayton High School, the MICDS team had a great run this season.
Students began preparing for the case in October 2025. In January and February, the team competed in the first two preliminary rounds of competition. They advanced to regionals the first week of March, securing their place at State Championships as one of the top 16 teams in the state. Altogether, approximately 100 high school teams competed in the Missouri Mock Trial competition this season.
Not pictured: Akira Washington ’26, who competed on the plaintiff team for State Championships.
5155 Ramsay Robotics 25-26 Decode Season Recap
By 5155 Team Ramsay Co-Heads
Decode was RTX’s theme for the 2025-2026 FTC season, and we, 5155 Team Ramsay, had a successful season! We participated in three meets during the regular season, with the first hosted here at MICDS, starting in third place and ultimately finishing the postseason in 8th place. Throughout the season, we had many significant milestones, the first being the securing of two sponsors: The Diamond Bar and Ferns and Finds.
Throughout the season, we focused on passing on skills to new members and having fun while competing against other schools. Initially, we focused on helping new members gain preliminary experience working with tools by giving them hands-on experience building a starter robot. As the season progressed, new members became acquainted with fabrication methods such as 3D printing, laser cutting, and other tools.
Our initial iteration was based on a modifiable chassis that we reused for this year. Later, we put members’ CAD and fabrication skills to use and made a fully custom second iteration with an active intake and a launcher that can adjust to fire game elements from different distances to a goal.
Moreover, we hosted three outreach events, each spanning a different part of the MICDS community. The first was our MICDS US Open House, where we were able to explain the Decode season in many ways, catering to the individual interests of young students and families. Our next one was the Lower School Coding Night, where we have made it an annual tradition not only to volunteer but also to interact with the young kids, helping them participate in hands-on activities centered around engineering and programming. Last but not least, our team volunteered at various Middle School (FIRST Lego League) FLL Meets, where we gave kids the opportunity to drive our robot through an obstacle course.
As for our meets, we participated in five total throughout the season. The first three events were the league stage, where teams could sign up for events within their league, with the goal being to accrue as many points as possible, which would be helpful in later stages. Throughout these meets, the goal was to test preliminary elements such as our drive train and early shooter system prototypes. Coming out of these meets, we were ranked quite highly, learned a lot about the prototypes for systems and the coding platforms that would come to use in our final version of the robot, and established set contributing roles for each team member.
The last two meets that we participated in were qualifiers, the first of which was the qualifier for just our league (STL South). In this stage, we put to use all of the points that we had earned throughout the regular season, those points contributing towards our final ranking in the event. In addition to this was a group presentation, accompanied by a portfolio of the journey the team took this year, including the mechanisms of our robot, as well as the outreach efforts that we have participated in throughout the year.
Last but not least at the qualifier was the debut of our version 2 robot. This meant that we had some new systems, such as an active intake to pick up balls during the match, as well as a few learning opportunities, such as the internal movement mechanism getting jammed or breaking. As a result of our performance in this meet, Ramsay qualified for the Super East Qualifier event at Bayless High School, ranking 12th out of the group, and earning 2nd place for the Control Award for our advanced Java-based control systems.
The team participated in these same events at the St. Louis-area Super East Qualifier. Although our season unfortunately ended here, the team still carried great memories and lessons from this meet, as well as from throughout the season. These experiences were very valuable for our team members and will inform our decisions regarding robot design, control, and outreach events. Currently, the team is focused on onboarding, getting sponsorships for next year’s season, and recruiting prospective members from our Middle School who are interested in the future of the robotics program.
The Robotics team is always looking for new members. If you are interested in learning more or talking to the co-heads for the 2026-2027 season, please get in touch with ibogachenchu@micds.org and adugaputi@micds.org. Incoming robotics members do not need any specific skills to enjoy the season; only a can-do attitude is necessary.
A super-big thank-you to MICDS, FIRST Robotics, our coaches, Mr. Dorsey and Mr. Purlee, and our sponsors for making this such a great season!
Varsity Boys Basketball Claims State Championship
The MICDS Boys Basketball team scored an exciting State championship during spring break! Check out some of the articles and recaps of their journey to first place!
In a double overtime victory over Holt, the Rams secured their first final four appearance since 2002. Check out this article by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, which recaps the high-stakes game with remarks by Head Coach Travis Wallace and highlights Brandon Clemens ’26, who scored a game-high 21 points during the victory. The final score was 59-47 for the Class 5 quarterfinal game on Saturday, March 14.
In the State Final Four contest, the Boys Basketball team took on Hillcrest on Friday, March 20, in Mizzou’s Basketball Arena. The Rams secured a 62-35 win. A recap by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch highlights Tyler Ray ’27, who scored a career-high 25 points.
On Saturday, March 21, the MICDS Varsity Boys Basketball team took home the Class 5 State Championship from Mizzou Arena! This was the first title for the team since 2002 and the second in program history. Congratulations to the State Championship team for an impressive third-period explosion that led to their 55-38 win over Sikeston! Read the game summary by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch here and check out the video highlight from KSDK here. Also, The St. Louis American summarizes the boys’ journey to State in this article. Way to go, Rams!
In addition, the MICDS Boys Basketball team is ranked #5 in the Final 2025-26 Missouri Top 25 Boys High School Basketball State Rankings list on Sports Illustrated. Congrats, Rams!
Second at State for Girls Basketball
In the Class 5 Girls Basketball State Quarterfinal contest at Fort Zumwalt West High, Lauren Smith ’27 nailed a three-pointer in the final 113 seconds of the game to secure a 42-38 win over St. Dominic. This secured the Rams’ fourth final four appearance in school history. Check out the game recap by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch here.
The Girls Basketball team defeated Marshfield 59-52 on Wednesday, March 18, in Mizzou’s Basketball Arena for the Class 5 State Semifinal contest. In the game overview by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Jordyn Haywood ’28 is featured for scoring 35 points and grabbing 16 rebounds. The team rallied from a 12-point second-quarter deficit.
In the State Championship round on Thursday, March 19, the Varsity Girls Basketball team battled hard against Lift for Life Academy, but came up short 60-41. What a terrific season of grit, Rams!
In additional Girls Basketball news, Jordyn Haywood ’28 was announced as the Class 5 Player of the Year, the Class 5 District 3 Player of the Year, and the Missouri Defensive Player of the Year. Congratulations also to Lily Harris ’28 and Riha Obinegbo ’28, who made the All-District Team for the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association Class 5 District 3.
Seven Rams Named to the National Field Hockey Coaches Association
- Emma Allen ’26
- Anna Dehlendorf ’26
- Ellemieke Ferguson ’27
- Georgia Lochhead ’26, Scholar of Distinction (GPA 3.9+)
- Katherine Schott ’27, Scholar of Distinction (GPA 3.9+)
- Katie Sheehan ’26
- Sienna Snyder ’27
