The Woodbridge Academic Decathlon team finished in eighth place at the 40th California Academic Decathlon competition, held in Sacramento from March 21-24. The Woodbridge team advanced to state after taking first place in Orange County earlier this year.
Over the four-day event, the team competed against the top 68 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 the 1960’s.
“As the team prepared for the state competition, they focused on improving the team’s County score, improving individual team member scores, and having the highest state competition score among the Orange County schools to advance to State,” said Decathlon coach Shan Wu. “Through hard work and commitment, team members were able to achieve these goals.”
This year, there were five Orange County schools invited to the state competition, including University High School, which finished the state competition in 17th place overall. Other OC schools:
- Trabuco – 25th overall
- Valencia – 28th overall
- Westminster – 33rd overall
“All of our team members performed very well, achieved personal goals, and contributed to the team’s success,” said Wu. “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!”
Woodbridge Team:
- Senior captain Hannah Hui
- Seniors Sachin Pathuri, Ramanuj Sarkar, Sugnan Suresh
- Juniors Snigdha Saha, Chris Lin, Kaylie Train
- Freshman Iris Shen
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