Golden Valley High came out on top at last weekend’s 44th Annual Merced County Academic Decathlon – a rigorous competition that includes essays, multiple choice tests, speeches, interviews and a Super Quiz.
The victory is Golden Valley’s High fifth win. The team earned first place in last year’s competition, according to a news release from Merced County Office of Education.
Golden Valley will advance to the State Academic Decathlon in Santa Clara this March.
Merced High’s Rishabh Saha, who competed last year in the prestigious Scripps National Spelling Bee, was the decathlon’s top scoring student, with a perfect score in the mathematics competition.
Every year teams from high schools across Merced County compete in the decathlon, which challenges knowledge and skills in math, science, social science, music, art, economics, literature, public speaking, interview and writing, the release said.
At the awards presentation, students were recognized for their participation in the competition both individually and as a team.
Three of the highest-scoring members of each team received the Robert Wayne Scholarship on behalf of donations and sponsorship from the Merced School Employees Federal Credit Union.
High Schools who participated this year include Atwater, Buhach Colony, Delhi, El Capitan, Golden Valley, Hilmar, Livingston, Los Banos, Merced and Pacheco.
Sponsor partners included Educational Employees Credit Union, Community Foundation of Merced County, Merced County Office of Education, Merco Credit Union and Travis Credit Union.