Woodbridge High School and University High School placed within the top ten teams at the California Academic Decathlon! Woodbridge secured fourth place with 43,068.5 points and University secured tenth place with 40,570.9 points.
Fresh off taking 1st and 2nd place respectively at the 2024 Orange County Academic Decathlon, these teams competed in Division 1, the most competitive division at the competition.
“I’m very proud of the Woodbridge team for reaching their goals and striving to be the best that they could possibly be,” said Woodbridge Decathlon Team Coach, Mike Nakaue. “Both IUSD teams were up against some incredibly talented schools and students, and our students represented themselves, their schools and Orange County with pride.
During the event, the teams competed against nearly 55 of the top schools in 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 Technology and Humanity.
In addition to placing fourth as a team, several of Woodbridge’s team members secured top spots for their individual performances on certain subjects. These students and topics include:
- Henry Robbins – 1st in Science, 1st in Economics, 2nd Language and Literature, 3rd in Art, 3rd in Social Science
- Yuki Matsumura – 1st in Interview, 2nd in Economics, 3rd in Art
- Jamie Shih – 2nd in Speech
- Caroline Robbins – 3rd in Art
- Catherine Tsaowimonsiri – 2nd in Music; 3rd in Language and Literature; 3rd in Science; 3rd in Economics; 2nd in Social Science
Held across the country at the county, state and national levels, Academic Decathlons feature nine-member teams competing for the highest scores on a series of multiple-choice exams, speeches, interviews and essay assignments.
Each squad must have three “Honor” students (those with GPAs of 3.80 and above), along with three “Scholastic” students (GPAs of 3.20 to 3.79) and three “Varsity” students (GPAs of 3.199 and below).
Congratulations to these teams on a successful Academic Decathlon season!