Stockdale High named Academic Decathlon Champs

Stockdale High School received the Claude W. Richardson perpetual trophy as the overall team winner of the 42nd annual Kern County Academic Decathlon. Nearly 100 students from 11 high schools participated. Stockdale High will represent Kern County in the California Academic Decathlon scheduled for next month in Santa Clara, California.

Rounding out the top eight teams were:

Second place – Frontier

Third place – Arvin

Fourth place – Independence

Fifth place – West

Academic Decathlon is made up of 10 events including Art, Economics, Essay, Interview, Language and Literature, Mathematics, Music, Science, Social Science, and Speech, plus a Super Quiz. The majority of the subjects were contested virtually on Feb. 1-2. The last contest featured the final two in-person categories - the speech competition and the Super Quiz. The Super Quiz is a pressure-packed 90-minutes of excitement, run like a TV quiz show. Team members have 10 seconds to collaborate and answer each question. Running totals are displayed on large, visible flip cards, bringing about enthusiastic reactions from the audience.

Each school's team consisted of a maximum of nine students: three "A" (honor), three "B" (scholastic) and three "C" (varsity) entrants. They competed against other students in the same divisions. The team compiling the most points captured first place. Individual medals were also awarded to first, second and third place finishers in each category and division.

Overall individual top scores in this year's Academic Decathlon went to:

Honors Division

First place –

Justin Magugat, Stockdale High

Second place –

Natalie Hawkins, Stockdale High

Third place –

Abbett Xander Monte De Ramos,

Frontier High

Scholastic Division

First place –

Nikira Boerger, Stockdale High

Second place –

Aidan Lo, Stockdale High

Third place –

Kiera Julius, Independence High

Varsity Division

First place –

Olivia Ussery, Frontier High

Second place –

Giselle Christensen, West High

Third place –

Jazmine Zavala, Independence High

Super Quiz Winner (Milo Hall Trophy)

Frontier High

Additionally, the Academic Decathlon Foundation Board awarded a one-time scholarship in the amount of $1,000 to Nikira Boerger, Stockdale High.