Outstanding Achievement on the AP Exams
20 Central Catholic students have earned AP Scholar Awards in recognition of their exceptional achievement on AP Exams. Only 18 percent of the nearly 1.7 million students worldwide who took AP Exams performed at a sufficiently high level to earn an AP Scholar Award.
There are several different levels of Scholar Awards. An AP Scholar Award is granted to students who receive grades of 3 or higher on three or more AP exams. Central Catholic had the following six students achieve this designation: Conor Campbell, Michael Dasso, Jeremy Hedlund, Ariana Johnson, Brendan McMahon, and Robert Segal.
An AP Scholar with Honor Award is granted to students who receive an average grade of at least 3.25 on all AP Exams taken, and grades of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams. Central Catholic had the following six students achieve this designation: Jordan Donahue, James Munger, Ryan Shanley, Aaron Vandiver, Thanh-Tam Voqui, and Lucas Weisensee.
An AP Scholar with Distinction Award is granted to students who receive an average grade of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken, and grades of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams. Central Catholic had the following eight students achieve this challenging designation: Timothy Bauman, Anika Burrell, Nathan Carr, Kevin Dimmitt, Joseph Farrell, Andrew Roetker, Kim Vo, and Ryan Whitehurst.
Individual Athletic Achievement
Kathleen Lance '11 Brings Home The Gold
Multnomah Athletic Club’s Junior Synchronized Swim Team Trio including Central Catholic senior Kathleen Lance won a gold medal in the Junior Trio competition Thursday at the US Open, an International Synchronized Swimming competition held in Irving, Texas July 14-17.
Teams from China, Great Britain, Mexico, The Dominican Republic, Korea, Alberta Canada, British Columbia Canada and Quebec Canada along with the United States Junior National Team and the United States National Team I and 20 club teams from around the US competed in the four day competition.
Softball Player Extreme
Senior softball pitcher Kaitlin Inglesby
is stronger than ever this season. Kaitlin pitched 50 straight scoreless innings and has a current average of .615. She has signed with reigning NCAA champion Washington. Please click here to read all about Kaitlin on Oregon Live.
State Racquetball Honors
In the Oregon State Racquetball Tournament, Easton Bennett took first place in the red division, Max Rompa took first place in the blue division, and Joel Barshaw took second place in the blue division. Max and Easton teamed up to take second place in doubles.
Martial Art Black Belt
In August of 2004, Connor Toyooka decided a good way to spend more time with his older brother Sean was to join him at the Montavilla Community Center in Yoshokai Aikido. Since starting he has worked himself through 17 different belt levels to achieve the 1st of 8 black belt levels. Connor has developed friends worldwide by being a part of this category of martial arts.
Oregonian Athlete of the Week
Ryan Harding of the Central Catholic boys soccer team has been selected as an Oregonian athlete of the week. Nominations are made by the newspaper's staff writers and freelancers as well as by coaches and others who follow high school sports. The Rams' senior goalkeeper posted shutouts against Reynolds on Oct. 20 and Gresham on Thursday, giving him eight shutouts in his last nine games. Central Catholic entered the week tied with Hood River Valley for first place in the Mt. Hood Conference.
Junior Andy Bennison, was also nominated for the athlete of the week by leading the top-ranked Rams cross country team to a victory in a Mt. Hood/PIL meet at Westmoreland Park last Wednesday, finishing the 5,000-meter race in 16 minutes, 10 seconds of the week for boys cross country.
The athlete of the week feature will appear in print in Wednesday's Oregonian and is online now at http://highschoolsports.oregonlive.com.
Cross Country Individual State Champions 2009
Senior Curran Carlile placed sixth in at the 2009 OSAA Cross Country State Championship. Senior Peter Slauson placed seventh.
Team Athletic Achievement
2009 Girls Volleyball First in State
Central Catholic girls volleyball team defeated Jesuit to take first in state for the first time since 2000. Central Catholic fans packed Liberty High School to cheer their team onto a four game win. The play-offs started Friday morning with a win over Sheldon followed by a win over Sunset Friday evening all part of the warm-up to the big finale against Jesuit. Congratulations!
2009 Cross Country First in State
During torrential downpours and cold weather, the Central Catholic Boy's Cross Country team placed first in state at the 2009 State Championship Match. This marks their 5th win in seven years in the big school OSAA Cross Country Championship. Read more...
Community
School Improvement Project Earns Scholarship 
Senior, Elliot Witala was recently awarded a $1,000 scholarship from Comcast for identifying and leading 75 volunteers in an improvement project at a school for disabled children. Elliot, whose young autistic cousin attends the school noticed that the school looked kind of run down. As part of earning his Eagle Scout status, Elliot organized volunteers to build cubbies, install coat hooks, a planter and a wonderful new sandbox. Elliot donates hours and hours of his time to service projects such as The Special Olympics and the Police Activities League for kids.
Eagle Scout Designation Comes With Hard Work
Achieving the level of Eagle Scout in the Boy Scout Organization is no easy task. It takes dedication and patience along with physical and mental perseverance. In order to obtain the Eagle Scout rank, Central Catholic Senior Bob Knodell built a bridge over a bio-swale at St. Luke Lutheran Church as his Eagle Scout Leadership project.
In addition, Bob attended two high adventure programs which included a week long ocean sailing trip and a hundred mile hike over rugged terrain which culminated in a 12,400 foot ascent of Mt. Baldy.
Daniel Carr Speaks to Al Gore
Senior Daniel Carr had the amazing opportunity to speak with Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore during a special OPB Radio Show, "Think Out Loud", with Al Gore. Audience participants were asked to submit a question before the show and Daniel's was one of the few selected.
Fine Arts
Fine Musicians
Battle of the Bands Champions
Central Catholic students have been busy getting noticed! Our own resident alternative band who performs together locally just won the Portland Battle of the Bands! This earns them a live gig at the Rose Festival Waterfront Village on Sunday, May 30th. Band members include, Max Pinder, Istvan Varga-Roman, Alex McDougall,and Zack Rego.
District Honors and First in State
Music students Marty Arrigotti and Alex McDougall placed first in the District 2 Instrumental Solo Music Contest and are going on to state competition in May. Alex competed in the Multiple Percussion, Orchestral Snare, and Mallets and Marty competed on guitar.
Alex McDougall made First Chair in the Percussion section 
for Oregon’s All-State Wind Symphony. Alex is already recognized as being one of the best percussionists in the state, and this award makes clear his level of talent. He will be performing on stage on Sunday, January 17 at U of O during the Oregon Music Educators Association Conference. Alex has since gone on to win State honors in both
Multiple Percussion and Orchestral Snare.
In addition, Cody Johnson (Trumpet) and Alex McDougall (Percussion) were chosen to perform in the 2009 Portland State University High School Honor Band. This ensemble was selected from the top student musicians throughout the state. They will perform on the Smith Memorial Stage at PSU on Saturday, November 21st.
