SIDNEY — Another successful year of academic competition recently ended in Shelby County with the announcement that Sidney High School has been named the 2015 Academia Champion.

This is the eighth consecutive year that Sidney has won the competition and the 18th time Sidney has been named as champion since the inaugural season in 1975. Anna High School came in second and Botkins finished in third place.

Academia students, coaches and guests celebrated during festivities at Jackson Center, Russia and Botkins. Recently Heather O’Donnell, the superintendent of the Midwest Regional Educational Service Center, presented the championship trophy and plaque to the Sidney High School Academia Team.

Academia provides students with a chance to connect their classroom efforts to real-world activities as they tackle questions across 10 categories: literature, language, fine arts, sports/entertainment, current events, science, math and general knowledge. The competition brings together the area’s top scholars and gives them the opportunity to showcase their intellectual skills.

More than 200 students were represented on the rosters of the nine participating school districts. Sidney’s Match Two total of 71 points was the highest weekly score.

Each year, one or two team members from participating schools are presented with scholarship awards. The following is a list of the 2015 Academia Scholarship winners: Anna, Weston Bensman; Botkins, Drew Ewry and Jared Goubeaux; Fairlawn, Madison Allison and Ross Covault; Fort Loramie, Kevin Meyer; Hardin-Houston, Mark Schaffer II; Jackson Center, Nicole Fogt; Russia, Amanda Frazier; Sidney, Aaron Jensen; Lehman, Diana Gibson and Caroline Heitmeyer.