Awards and Accomplishments

Click through the tabs below to view some of the recent honors, awards and accomplishments that were earned by students and staff from Hinsdale Central.

Individual Students

Cate McDonnell from Hinsdale Central was among the individuals from the Chicago area who were recognized for their community service by Buddy's Helpers, which is a nonprofit organization that "engages and educates student-athletes about the importance of making a difference on and off the field." Cate was honored for her efforts to collect new and used sports equipment that was donated to the Off the Street Club in Chicago’s West Garfield Park neighborhood.

You can access a story that WBBM Newsradio did about Cate and one of the other student-athletes who was recognized by Buddy's Helpers by visiting https://bit.ly/3DzPxUZ.
During events held last week, Hinsdale Central recognized the students who earned the following awards from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation and the College Board:
- National Merit Semifinalist
- National Merit Commended Student
- National African American Recognition Award
- National Hispanic Recognition Award
  
  You can access the list of Central students who were honored by clicking here.
Teagan Dunn, who is a junior at Hinsdale Central, is one of 10 students who have been chosen to help select the nominees for next year's Lincoln Award (Illinois Teen Readers’ Choice Award). The Lincoln Award, which is sponsored by the Association of Illinois School Library Educators, is designed to encourage teens to read for personal satisfaction and become familiar with authors of young adult and adult books. It is named after former president Abraham Lincoln, who was an avid reader and noted author. You can learn more about the award by visiting https://aisled.org/lincoln/.
Fatima Khan, who is a senior at Hinsdale Central, had her paper published in the August issue of the International Journal of High School Research (IJHSR). The paper, which was titled “The Cost of Healthy Drinking Water," explored not only the qualities that constitute the healthiest drinking water, but also whether the most expensive drinking water is the healthiest for a person to consume.
Erika Kalman and Kaitlyn Thick from Hinsdale Central were named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association's (AVCA) Best and Brightest First Team. In order to be eligible for this award, which honors student-athletes who excel on and off the court, Erika and Kaitlyn had to earn at least a 3.8 unweighted or 4.3 weighted GPA during their junior year and play in 50% of the varsity team’s sets during their senior season.
Arjun Shah from Hinsdale Central has been selected for the cast of the All-State Production of "Shrek the Musical," which will be performed during the 2023 Illinois High School Theatre Festival.
Cayleigh O'Hare, who is a senior, was invited to present her research at the Biomedical Engineering Society's (BMES) annual meeting in San Antonio, Texas Oct. 12-15. The title of her presentation is "3D-Biofabrication of a Novel Peripheral Nerve Conduit Using PLG and Graphite." Cayleigh earned this opportunity in conjunction with the society's High School Poster Competition, which provides students with the chance to broaden their awareness in the field of biomedical engineering, attend cutting-edge keynote presentations and bolster their collegiate applications. She also received a travel award from the Army Educational Outreach Program (AEOP) that will fund her trip to the event and participation in the competition. Cayleigh's research is based on the work she did during the time she interned at Dimension Inx., which designs and develops therapeutic products that restore tissue and organ function.

Thirty students have been named semifinalists in the 68th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. They are among the more than 16,000 students from across the country who were selected as semifinalists from the 1.5 million individuals who took the qualifying exam last year. They will now have the opportunity to compete for the 7,250 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $28 million that will be offered in the spring.

Sebastian Attlan
Analise Budziak
Alexander Burt
Natalie Chang
Jiming Chen
Luke Chung
Samuel Chung
Cole Clawson
Rohan Devulapally
Priya Dhananjaya,
Annaka Freve
Sherry Gong
Rebecca Guan
Jessica Han
Jacob Haverkos

Nicole Hu
Catherine Huber
Andrew Kassab
John Knott
Jeffrey Liu
Cayleigh O'Hare
William Otten
Isaac Park
Ramez Rifai
Paul Schmeltz
Anika Singh
Karan Sudhama
Nancy Wang
Charles Wittemann
Kevin Zhang

The following students earned the AP Capstone Diploma award from The College Board, which is granted to students who earn a score of three or higher on the AP Seminar and AP Research exams, as well as on four additional AP exams of the student's choosing: Arnima Agrawal, Alexander Burt, Sohan Joshi, Andrew Kassab, Fatima Khan, Rhea Kumar, Rohan Kumar, Colin Kurimay, Hannah Li, Michaela Morrell, Vandana Patel, Saanvi Sethi, Prachi Shah, Anika Singh, Armaan Sinha, Saniya Wasti and Xinran Xu.
Fifteen students from Hinsdale Central are among the 62,000 individuals from across the country who earned academic honors from the College Board's National Recognition Program. These honors include the National African American Recognition Award (NAARA) and National Hispanic Recognition Award (NHRA). Elyssa Chandler, Talia Johnson, Mai-jeanna Sakho, Christina Tresslar, Brandon Walker and Jason Yawe earned the NAARA award. Alexander Aschinberg, Christopher Cavero, Lino Hernandez, Gabriela Veliz Hernandez, Sabrina Karim, Sebastian Lopez, Alexander Olguin, Rafaela Ribeiro and Amelia Sowers earned the NHRA award.
Alexandra Collins was selected as one of the winners of the 2021 Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes. This annual award, which was established by author T. A. Barron in 2001, honors 25 outstanding young leaders ages 8 to 18 who have had a positive impact on people, their communities and the environment.
Jui Khankari was one of 300 high school seniors who were named scholars by the Society for Science in conjunction with the organization's annual science and math competition. The scholars were chosen based on their "exceptional research skills, commitment to academics, innovative thinking and promise as scientists as demonstrated through the submission of their original, independent research projects, essays and recommendations."
Victor Ferrell and Patrick Redding took the top two spots in a competition organized by Sports Career Consulting, LLC that tasked students with "the development of a point of purchase display representing a consumer goods brand tied to Super Bowl LVI." Ferrell took first place for his "Lego Stadium" display, while Redding tied for second with his "Gatorade Shower" concept.
The following students from Hinsdale Central won awards during the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America's (FCCLA) state competition.
- Toral Bhatt - Gold in the Apparel Construction Casual category
- Chloe Chang - Gold and Most Outstanding in the Child Care Provider category
- Zuzanna Sokolowski - Gold in the Apparel Construction Semi-Formal category
Elizabeth Grieve and Annette Ciupek from Hinsdale Central were recognized for their outstanding leadership as school citizens at the annual Student Recognition Breakfast hosted by the Illinois Principals Association.
Meghna Mitra was recognized by the United Nations Association of the USA (UNA-USA) and InnerView Technologies in conjunction with their 5th Annual National Community Service Awards. She earned an Ambassador Award for completing at least 100 hours of community service and 12 service activities, a Zero Hero Green award for completing at least 20 hours of service toward Global Goal 2 (end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture), and a Zero Hero Gold Award for completing at least 40 hours of service and one leadership activity toward Global Goal 12 (ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns).
Mara Severts was one of four students to earn a scholarship during the recent 2022 Alliance of Fine Art (AFA) Student Scholarship Competition. She received a $250 prize for her oil painting titled "For Breakfast."
Emil Riegger took first place at the conference, regional and sectional tournaments for boys golf.
Sarah Thornton took first place at the regional tournament for girls golf.
Elyssa Abdullah took first place at the sectional tournament and fourth place at state for girls golf.
Anna Wiskowski and Nicole Hu came in first and second place respectively in singles at the sectional tournament for girls tennis. Central also captured the top two spots in doubles, with Sophia Kim and Katie Dollens taking first and Zoe Limparis and Bridget Novatoney taking second.
Vincent Galassi was named to the Illinois High School Association's (IHSA) 2021-22 Honorable Mention Team for academics. In order to be nominated, students must possess a minimum 3.50 grade point average on a 4.0 scale after their seventh semester, have participated in at least two IHSA-sponsored sports or activities during each of the last two years, and demonstrated outstanding citizenship.
Eleanor Monyek was selected by the Daily Herald for its 2021-2022 DuPage County All-Area Girls Basketball Team. Nina Sarros earned honorable mentions. Monyek was also recognized by the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association in conjunction with the selections for its 2022 All-State Teams. She received a special mention for the girls at the Class 4A level.
Ben Oosterbaan was selected by the Daily Herald for its 2021-2022 DuPage County All-Area Boys Basketball Team.
Sebastian Attlan and Nate Maydanchik took part in the Mathematical Association of America's (MAA) United States of America Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO) and United States of America Junior Mathematical Olympiad (USAJMO). These are competitions that last a total of nine hours over a two-day period. Attlan qualified for the USAMO by being one of the top-scoring AMC 12 participants, while Maydanchik qualified for the USAJMO by being one of the top-scoring AMC 10 participants (AMC stands for American Mathematics Competitions).
Sahan Sahgal was among the five people from the Chicago area and 300 individuals from across the country who were selected by Bank of America for its Student Leaders program.

Faculty & Staff

Arpan Chokshi, who is a social studies teacher at Hinsdale Central, has earned the Outstanding Educator Award from the University of Chicago. For more than three decades, first-year students entering the university have nominated individuals for this award who have helped them "along the path toward intellectual growth." Chokshi is among the educators who are being recognized this year for the significant role they play in their students' education, and the positive impact they have on the lives of those they teach.
Kim Estoque has been named the state coach of the year in girls gymnastics by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). NFHS selects a coach of the year in the top 10 boys sports and top 10 girls sports for each of its member states. The organization then selects a national coach of the year for each sport from among the state winners.
Jared Friebel, who is an English teacher at Hinsdale Central, has been selected for the Chicago Area Writing Project’s Civic Engagement Fellowship for 2022-23. The Chicago Area Writing Project is among the sites that are connected to the National Writing Project and support its efforts to improve the teaching of writing and learning in schools and communities.
Laura Milas was selected by the Illinois Art Education Association (IAEA) as its Distinguished Service to the IAEA award winner for 2021.
John Naisbitt, who is a social studies teacher and coach at Hinsdale Central, earned an Outstanding Educator Award from the University of Chicago. He was among the educators who were recognized for the significant role they play in their students' education, and the positive impact they have on the lives of those they teach.
Tony Madonia, who is a special education teacher in the district's HAVEN program and soccer coach at Hinsdale Central, was accepted into the United Soccer Coaches' 30 Under 30 Program.
Kelly Watson was named the assistant athletic director of the year by the Illinois Athletic Directors Association.
Dan Jones was named a finalist for National Athletic Director of the Year by the National High School Athletic Coaches Association.
Bob Barber was named the coach of the year for boys and girls swimming by the Illinois Swimming and Diving Association (ISDA).
Wanda Swik was named the administrative assistant of the year by the Illinois Athletic Directors Association.
Sally Phillip, who is the activities director at Hinsdale Central, was named the District Administrator of the Year by the Illinois District of the National Speech and Debate Association.
Hinsdale Central English teacher Jared Friebel gave a presentation titled "Honoring Our Students' Work: IATE's Young Writers Poetry & Prose Contest" at the Illinois Association of Teachers of English Conference in October.
David Lange, who is the department chair for English at Hinsdale Central, was part of a group that gave a presentation titled "Creating Balance of Professional Development Between Your Staff and Yourself" at the Council on English Leadership National Conference in November.

School

The Latin Club participated in their first Certamen gathering of the year with their peers from Lyons Township and Benet Academy. The students from Central (Yusuf Ahmed, Hank Bolenbaugh, Jonathan DeToro, Zed Lillioja, Michael Sahs, Rowan Whelan and Ben Yan) took first place at the lower (Latin II) and upper (Latin III/IV) levels.
The debate team performed well at the HF Vikings Classic that was held Oct. 22-23. Ava Johnson and Finn Schmeltz came in first for the JV Public Forum Debate, while Sebastian Attlan and Sohan Whittier took third.
The girls swimming and diving program at Hinsdale Central won the conference championship at the varsity and junior varsity levels. The group won its fourth straight sectional championship, qualified for state and had top three finishes in the following individual events:
- Kit Schneider, Caroline Kramer, Burlingtyn Bokos and Phoebe Paarlberg - first place in the 200-yard medley relay
- Olivia Suliga, Kelechi Ojiako, Phoebe Paarlberg and Kit Schneider - second place in the 200-yard freestyle relay
- Kit Schneider, Elizabeth Lahmann, Burlingtyn Bokos and Phoebe Paarlberg - second place in the 400-yard freestyle relay
- Caroline Kramer - first place in the 200-yard individual medley
- Burlingtyn Bokos - second place in the 200-yard individual medley
- Kit Schneider - first place in the 50-yard freestyle
- Olivia Suliga - third place in the 50-yard freestyle
- Meghan Martell - second place in diving
- CC Huber - third place in diving
- Burlingtyn Bokos - first place in the 500-yard freestyle
- Lauren Priest - first place in the 100-yard backstroke
- Caroline Kramer - first place in the 100-yard breaststroke
  
  The team's success helped Coach Bob Barber earn sectional swimming coach of the year honors.
The boys soccer team from Hinsdale Central captured the regional championship and helped Coach Mike Wiggins earn his 400th career victory in dramatic fashion against Whitney Young. After battling through regulation and two overtime periods, the Red Devils finally bested the Dolphins by going 5-for-5 in the shootout. The team went on to win the sectional championship following a hard fought 1-0 victory over Benet Academy. The Red Devils battled throughout their supersectional matchup against Naperville Central, but wound up on the wrong side of the 4-3 score when the final whistle blew.
The varsity boys and girls cross country teams turned in outstanding performances at their post-season tournaments. The boys cross country program captured the conference title at all levels for the first time in school history. Special shoutout to the varsity team on winning back-to-back championships behind a first place finish by Dan Watcke and third place finish by Aden Bandukwala. The boys team won its regional championship thanks to top 10 finishes by Dan Watcke (second place), Michael Skora (third place), Aden Bandukwala (fourth place) and Jesse Gamboa (eighth place). At the state tournament, the boys came in second for the second straight year behind outstanding races by Aden Bandukwala, who won the first individual state title in school history, and Dan Watcke, who took third place. The girls team took third place at its regional tournament behind a second place finish by Sarah Fischer and fifth place finish by Catie McCabe. At the state tournament, the girls team took eighth place thanks, in large part, to a top 20 finish by Catie McCabe (11th).
Hinsdale Central's marching band has been invited to take part in the London New Year's Day Parade in 2024. The annual parade attracts more than 10,000 participants from the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe.
The varsity girls tennis team from Hinsdale Central had a strong showing in the postseason. The Red Devils began the defense of their state title by taking first place in the conference and sectional championship. In addition to winning the championship, Central claimed two of the top three spots in singles (senior Sophia Kim came in first and senior Prachi Shah came in third) and the top two spots in doubles (seniors Bridget Novatoney and Nicole Hu came in first and senior Shannon Stover and sophomore Abigail Gambla came in second). The Red Devils girls varsity girls tennis team capped off the season with its second straight state title. They were led by Sophia Kim, who took third place in singles, and Bridget Novatney and Nicole Hu, who took third place in doubles. The team, which also included Prachi Shah, Shannon Stover and Abigail Gambla, finished with a combined 18-6 record for the tournament.
Arjun Shah from Hinsdale Central has been selected for the cast of the All-State Production of "Shrek the Musical," which will be performed during the 2023 Illinois High School Theatre Festival. More than 3,500 teachers, university representatives, exhibitors and volunteers from across the state take part in the annual festival's various productions and workshops.
The golf teams from Hinsdale Central had strong finishes at the conference, regional, sectional and state championships. The varsity and junior varsity boys and girls golf teams took first place in their respective tournaments, giving the Red Devils a clean sweep of the conference, regional and sectional titles. After advancing to the state tournament, the girls capped off their season by winning their first state title since the 2015-16 school year. They were led by sophomore Elyssa Abdullah, who took second place overall after shooting a 72 in the first round and 70 in the second round. Meanwhile, the boys took second in state behind an incredible performance by senior Emil Riegger, who finished in third place overall and was only one stroke behind the leaders. It was the eighth time in 10 seasons that the boys team finished in one of the top two spots for the tournament.
Hinsdale Central was among the 325 schools from across the country that was named a 2021 National Blue Ribbon School. The U.S. Department of Education awards this recognition on an annual basis to affirm the hard work of educators, families and communities in creating safe and welcoming schools where students master challenging and engaging content.
Hinsdale Central fared well in the 2022 high school rankings issued by U.S. News & World Report. The school was ranked ninth in Illinois (up one spot from last year). It was also named a U.S. News Best High School for being ranked in the top 40% in the country (Central was 277 out of nearly 18,000 schools).
Four seniors from Hinsdale Central (Jui Khankari, Maximilian Lai, Nadir Muzaffar and Grant Zhang) were named candidates for the 2022 U.S. Presidential Scholars Program. In April 2022, it was announced that Khankari and Zhang were among the 21 students from Illinois and 620 students from across the country who had been named semifinalists for the award. In May 2022, Khankari was among the five students from Illinois and 161 students from across the country who were named 2022 U.S. Presidential Scholars based on their accomplishments in academics, the arts, and career and technical education fields.
Hinsdale Central students earned the top three scores on the examinations that were administered in conjunction with the American Mathematics Competitions (AMC) for individuals in grades 10 and below and 12 and below. Nathanial Maydanchik, Kevin Xue, and Ashkay Naik took the top spots on the AMC 10 test. Meanwhile, Grant Zhang and Wilbert Chu (tied for first place), Sebastian Attlan and Dmitriy Shvydkoytook took the top spots on the AMC 12 test.
The speech team took third place at both the regional and sectional tournament, and finished in sixth place at state thanks to the individual championships that Jack Huber and Nico Kiperman won in the Humorous Duet Acting event and Ajay Gupta won in the Extemporaneous Speaking event.
The math team took first place at the 4AA regional tournament, and came in first or second in every individual event. At state, the Red Devils took eighth overall in Division 4AA, and had several top 20 finishes in their individual events.
The Science Olympiad team qualified for the state tournament following an outstanding performance at regionals. The Red Devils finished third overall, and took second place in three events, third place in six events, fourth place in four events and fifth place in four events. At state, Central took 11th place overall and earned top 10 finishes in a few events, including a first place finish by Rhea Kumar and Elizabeth Grieve in the Write It Do It event.
The JETS (Junior Engineering and Technical Society) team took first at the state tournament and finished in the top five in the following individual events:
- Rebecca Guan - first place in English
- Rohan Shah - first place in Engineering Graphics
- Grant Zhang - first place in Mathematics and fourth place in Physics
- Alex Yang - second place in Physics and third place in Mathematics
- Dmitriy Shvydkoy - third place in Mathematics and Physics
- Sophia Lee - third place in English
- Charles Gilman - fourth place in Engineering Graphics
- Alex Jiang - fourth place in Biology
The Scholastic Bowl team won its conference, regional and sectional championships. The team capped off its season by taking fourth place at the state tournament.
For the second straight year, Solstice, which is the art and literary magazine produced by students and staff from Hinsdale Central, was awarded a Gold Crown by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA). It is one of 20 print literary magazines in the country, and the only one from Illinois, to earn this honor.
The following Hinsdale Central students finished in the top three in their individual events at the state competition for the Illinois Design Educators Association.
- Dan Bieber - first place in 3D Assembly Modeling
- Elizabeth Singer - second place in Architectural 2D CAD
- Rohan Shah - second place in 3D CAD Modeling
- Zahrah Qureshi - second place in 3D Assembly Modeling
- Brynn Bauer - third place in Introductory CAD
- Connor Schwarz - third place in 3D CAD Modeling
- Gavin Rose - third place in Machine CAD
- Jacob Haverkos - third place in Machine CAD
- Armaan Panjwani, Thatcher Petersen and Gabe Bokich - third place in Architectural Design
The boys tennis team won its third state championship in the past five seasons. The Red Devils took first and second place in singles as Mujtaba Ali-Khan defeated teammate Noah Hernandez in straight sets to win the title. The team also took two of the top three spots in doubles behind outstanding performances by Jai Vallurupalli and Anthony Lipari (second place) and Alex Kotarski and James Theriault (third place).
The girls tennis team won its conference championship after sweeping the competition in singles and doubles. The team also took first place in its sectional tournament and wrapped up its season by winning its sixth state championship in the past 10 seasons and 19th title overall.
The boys swimming and diving team took first place at the sectional tournament and qualified for state in 12 events. The team came in second at the state tournament behind top 10 finishes in 10 individual events.
The girls lacrosse team won its sectional and super sectional championships, and took second place in the state final.
The boys golf team from won its second straight conference championship. The team also came in second at its regional and sectional tournaments and took third place at state.
The girls golf team won its 15th consecutive conference championship. The team also won its regional and sectional tournaments and took fourth place at state.
The girls badminton team won its eighth straight sectional championship, and its 17th title in the past 20 years. The team also took the top two spots in doubles (Tiffany Tu and Hannah Fang were first; Ivy Shen and Aishvarya Godlas were second) and two of the top three spots in singles (Jessica Han was first; Maria Jiao was third).
The girls gymnastics team came in second at regionals behind a dominant performance by Kelly Klobach, who took first place and qualified for the sectional tournament in every event. Klobach qualified for state in the all-around after taking first on the vault, second on the uneven parallel bars and third on the balance beam at the sectional tournament. She finished her season by tying for fourth on the vault, taking ninth on the uneven parallel bars and finishing 11th in the all-around at the state tournament.
The boys gymnastics team took second place overall at the sectional tournament. The team also had several student-athletes finish in the top 10 in their individual events, including Matthew Cihlar, who took first place on the still rings.
Marko Ivanisevic took fifth and Cody Tavoso took sixth in their respective weight classes at the state tournament for boys wrestling.
Several Special Olympics track athletes from Hinsdale Central earned gold medals and qualified for state during the regional competition.
- Colin Baar - softball throw
- Melanie Niehaus - softball throw and 100-meter walk
- Jocelyn Rodriguez - 100-meter run
The boys track and field team took second place at sectionals and had top 10 finishes in several events, including first place finishes by Daniel Watcke in the 800-meter run, Jack Sauder in pole vault, Grant Miller, Mehlum Anjarwala, Aden Bandukwala and Watcke in the 4x400 relay, and Miller, Bandukwala, Colby Revord and Watcke in the 4x800 relay. At state, the Red Devils took ninth place overall and had second place finishes in the 800-meter run (Watcke), 4x400 relay (Watcke, Miller, Bandukwala and Revord) and 4x800 relay (Bandukwala, Michael Skora, Miller and Revord).
The girls track and field team took fourth place at sectionals and had top 10 finishes in several events, including first place finishes by Catie McCabe in the 800-meter run and Elyssa Chandler in the 300-meter hurdles. McCabe went on to take second place in the event at the state tournament.