November 30, 2014 – Times Staff
Hammond elementary and Gavit Middle-High School chess players competed at the All Grades State Chess Championships earlier this month at Canterbury High School in Fort Wayne. More that 25 players from Hammond schools competed individually at their own grade level in 13 sections, kindergarten through high school seniors.
Two players who stood out were first grader Juan Pablo Espiritu from Edison Elementary School, who captured the third-place trophy and a gift certificate, and Josue Moreno from Gavit Middle School, who earned the fourth-place trophy in the sixth-grade section.
Other Hammond players competing were Paloma Schmidt, Cohen Shellman, Jose Manuel Espiritu, Andrea Salgado, Fatima Luna, Celeste Recio and Lilia Wolf, all from Edison; Benjamin Johnson and Evan Johnson, both from Jefferson Elementary School; and Walter Gaitan from O’Bannon Elementary School in the Elementary Divisions. The Gavit team also included Brian Gaitan, Christopher Paterson, Anderson Johnson, Jesse Schmidt, Eric Johnson, Analisa Sada, Elizabeth Schmidt, Camillie Spitler, Maxwell Wolf, Yatziri Moreno, Carlos Salgado and Feliciana Schraven, while Chyanne Shellman competed for the Hammond Academy for Science and Technology.