The Woodbridge Academic Decathlon team competed in the 40th annual California Academic Decathlon competition in Sacramento this past Thursday through Sunday and finished 8th place in the Division 1, the most competitive division in the most competitive state in the nation. We missed 6th by only 91 points out of 60,000 possible points. This finish is one of the highest finishes we’ve ever had at the State Competition, and likely places Woodbridge in the top 12 in the entire country!
Over the 4 day event, the team competed against the top 68 schools in the state of California in a series of 10 academic events, ranging from mathematics to social science to speech and interview, all revolving around this year’s theme of the 1960’s.
California is, by far, the most competitive state- the Division 1 State Champion of California almost always goes on to win the United States Academic Decathlon National Championship which features each state's champion. The California State Champion has won the overall National Championship for the last 16 years in a row. Our team was matched up against some incredibly talented schools and students, and our students represented themselves, Woodbridge, and Orange County with pride.
Heading into the state competition, the team set realistic goals of improving on our team score from the county competition, improving individual team member scores, and having the highest State Competition score among the Orange County schools that advanced to State. Due to the hard work and commitment of the team members, we were able to achieve these goals!
This year, there were 5 Orange County schools invited to the state competition, and they finished with these overall rankings in the state, out of 68 teams:
Woodbridge- 8th overall
University - 19th overall
Trabuco - 25th overall
Valencia - 28th overall
Westminster - 33rd overall
Our team this year consisted of:
senior captain Hannah Hui;
seniors Sachin Pathuri, Ramanuj Sarkar, Sugnan Suresh;
juniors Snigdha Saha, Chris Lin, Kaylie Train;
freshman Iris Shen
All of our team members performed very well, achieved personal goals, and contributed to the team’s success. The team has been preparing since last June and their success is a testament to the sacrifice, diligence, and maturity of this great group of kids. They definitely deserve every award and accolade they’ve earned!
Of special note, several of our team members were near the top of the entire competition for their individual performances on certain subjects:
Sachin Pathuri - 1st Place Speech; Top Overall Woodbridge score on the team
Hannah Hui - 2nd Place Art; 3rd Place Economics; 3rd Place Science
Snigdha Saha - 2nd Place Art; 3rd Place Music; 1st Place Interview
Sugnan Suresh - 3rd Place Speech
Please congratulate all of these students for their incredible hard work and dedication this year and for continuing the legacy and tradition of excellence that is Woodbridge Academic Decathlon!