University High School's Academic Decathlon team placed seventh in the nation at the 2026 United States Academic Decathlon National Competition, held April 23-25 at the Hyatt Regency Orange County in Garden Grove.
The national competition brought together top-performing teams from across the country to compete in a rigorous multidisciplinary academic event. University High also earned Rookie of the Year honors in Division I, awarded to the highest-scoring team competing at nationals for the first time.
University High was one of seven California schools to advance to the national competition following the state competition in March. The team also became the first Orange County team in more than 30 years to advance to nationals.
The United States Academic Decathlon is a team-based academic competition featuring 10 events, including mathematics, literature, economics, science, interviews, speeches and essay writing.
The nine-member team included Samantha Hanson, Avril Zhang, Aritri Saha, Kael Seck, Tea Vu, Emily Sun, Mickey Zhao, Susan Rasyidi and Anna Liu.
Several students also earned individual medals during the national competition:
- Samantha Hanson - Bronze medal in art; team MVP
- Kael Seck - Highest overall individual score on the team
- Tea Vu - Silver medal in speech; bronze medals in essay and literature
- Avril Zhang - Bronze medal in music
- Emily Sun - Gold medal in literature
- Aritri Saha - Silver medal in speech
“These students dedicated countless hours outside the classroom to prepare for competition,” said Christopher Esposito. “Their motivation, ambition and commitment to one another have been instrumental to the team’s success and their representation of Uni.”
Congratulations to the University High School Academic Decathlon team on an outstanding season and national competition finish.