Twenty-four La Cañada High School Sports Medicine students put their spring break on hold to compete in the 17th annual AACI Regional Sports Medicine Competition at Cal State Northridge on March 24.
The students, led by teacher Kim Crosby, emerged with a third-place team trophy in the Large School Division, after competing against more than 600 students from high schools in California, Washington, Kansas and Texas.
This year, event sponsor Anatomage hosted the Anatomy Challenge — a timed, interactive quiz on anatomical structures using a high-tech 3-D cadaver dissection table. This challenge proved to be the highlight of this year’s event. A sub-team of five LCHS students — Paris Papac, Solenn Matuska, Sonia Vaze, Emily Truong and Erica Oh — competed in this elite challenge and were named champions.
In addition, Papac placed fifth among first-year students based on her written and practical test scores. The team’s strong showing in this regional competition qualifies them for the upcoming AACI National Sports Medicine Competition that will be held in May.
