The Abington Senior High School u1300 chess team of Qing Chen, Blaize Wijeyeratne, Will Michalski, Sofi Ebora, and Thristan Lundy placed second in the state over the weekend at the Pennsylvania State Chess Championship in Harrisburg.

Individually, Chen took second place in her division, Wijeyeratne placed eighth, and Michalski and Ebora took individual honors for their play in that division.

In the u1000, Abington’s team of Gareth Hansplant, Asher Rourke, Roman Lee, Nick Young, and Eliot Weber placed third in the state.

The Ghosts will compete at USCF Supernationals in May.

In related news, Cheltenham High School freshman Tina Ramberg-Michael has been named the 2025 Montgomery County Youth Poet Laureate. She will be honored with a certificate recognizing her efforts, a $250 honorarium, an opportunity to compete for the Northeast Regional Youth Poet Laureate title, and various performance opportunities.

Ramberg-Michael will receive her recognition and read her work at an awards ceremony at Eclipse Center for Creative Community in Lansdale on Friday, April 18 from 6:30pm to 9:00pm. Read some of Ramberg-Michael’s work.

According to the district, she also took first place in the poetry slam at the Delaware Valley Consortium for Equity and Excellence and published her poetry with Young Inklings. Outside of school she plays cello in three orchestras throughout Philadelphia, Montgomery County, and Bucks counties.

“I love this poet’s surprising and vivid images, engagements with other texts, and experiments with form,” final judge Gabrielle Bates said about Ramberg-Michael’s work. “These poems feel born of real private and public necessity, attuned to ephemerality and the ancient both, full of sonic pleasure and heart. The experience of reading them lingers long after I’ve finished reading. The poem ‘Maggie,’ in particular, astonishes me with its tender intimacy and deft layering of information and time. The structure and cadence of ‘Olive Trees…’ stands out as well: such a wise, thoughtful, and moving elegy of global witness. I could go on and on, but I must stop myself. I love these poems!”

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Photos: ASD, CSD