Published: June 24, 2009 10:16 pm      

Edmond student on national academic team

EDMOND — A team of six students from Oklahoma, including Andrew Chandler of Edmond Santa Fe HIgh School, claimed the National Runner-up title at the National Tournament of Academic Excellence (NTAE) held recently at Disney World in Orlando, Fla.

The team members were seniors, Brandon Ranallo, son of Paul and Sharla Ranallo, of Haileyville and Finlay Craig, son of Ron Craig, of Washington. Juniors included Chandler, son of Larry and Kelly Chandler; William Neiswanger, son of Bill Neiswanger, Stephenie George and Brennan George, of Drummond; and OSSM students Peter Luo, son of Dr. Yiqi Luo and Aimin Yang, of Norman, and Onkur Sen, son of Dr. Sandip and Debjani Sen, of Broken Arrow. Team Oklahoma is coached by Gail and Lonnie Bliss, of Carnegie, and Eric Bell, of Norman.

Six participants are chosen by tournament officials from all participants for recognition of their outstanding play. Team Oklahoma’s Brandon Ranallo was selected for the 2009 All-America team.

Ranallo joins eight former Team Oklahoma All-America team members beginning with the very first All-America team in 1989, Drew Kane,Tulsa Memorial; 1990, Matt Bruce, Tulsa B.T. Washington; 1991, Eric Bell, Broken Arrow; 1995, Hemanth Parasum, Edmond/OSSM; 1996, Eric McArthur, Edmond Memorial; 1999, Mike Taylor, Edmond Memorial, 2003, Dan Benediktson, Tulsa B.T. Washington; and 2007, Martin Ye, Jenks, as Oklahoma recipients of the recognition.

Oklahoma has fielded a team in the national tournament in Florida every year since 1988. Team Oklahoma is an all-star team. Team members, 97 in all, come from 46 different Oklahoma communities.

“It is an honor and a pleasure to have the opportunity to coach Team Oklahoma,” Coach Gail Bliss said. “The 2009 team put it all together and performed brilliantly. I wish I could take credit for what they know. That honor goes to each of them, individually. They each studied, learned and retained volumes of information in order to gain the knowledge base needed to answer the caliber of questions asked in the NTAE. They were prepared by teachers and academic coaches at their home school and supported by parents and communities. I am very proud of our team.”

The six team members received a $1,000 scholarship and will be receiving championship rings from Herff Jones.