The Woodbridge Academic Decathlon team competed in the 39th annual California Academic Decathlon competition in Sacramento this past Thursday through Sunday and finished 13th place in the Division 1, the most competitive division in the most competitive state in the nation. This finish likely places Woodbridge in the top 20 in the entire country!
Over the 4 day event, the team competed against the top 69 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 Africa.
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. The California State Champion has won the overall National Championship for the last 15 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 amongst 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 69 teams:
13th - Woodbridge
15th - Westminster
25th - University
27th - Valencia
29th - Trabuco Hills
Our team this year consisted of: junior captain Hannah Hui; senior Daniel Kang; juniors Sachin Pathuri, Matthew Ho, JP Faza, Connie Pak, Sugnan Suresh
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:
Hannah Hui - 2nd Art; 3rd Music; 2nd Science; Overall highest scoring team member on our team
Matthew Ho - 3rd Music; 3rd Math; 3rd Science; 2nd - Social Science
Sachin Pathuri - 3rd Art; 2nd Social Science
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!