The SM North chess team placed third at the Cordley tournament in Lawrence on Dec. 8.

Seniors Stone Hobbs, Evan West and Grace Altenhofen represented the North team, accompanied by their coach Dillon Simmons. 

“It’s really great to see the hard work these kids put in day in and day out pay off,” Simmons said.

Individually, West placed 28th, Altenhofen placed 15th and Hobbs placed third. All three players earned medals. 

“It was awesome,” Hobbs said. “They call medals last place to first, so the closer they got to first, the more the excitement was building.”

This set a new record for Hobbs, whose previous highest place at a tournament was sixth. 

“My next goal is first place,” Hobbs said.