Top Ten in the State: AcaDeca Goes to Nationals

BY: PATTARIN SEAYUB 24'

This weekend, SOCES Academic Decathlon placed 10th in the California State Championship as well as 1st in the Medium School Division. Jaylen Patel, David Olvera, Barbara Ortiz, Nathan Ark, Khusanjon Bobokhojaev, Cristian Claiborne, Kavidu de Silva, Eva Karamanoukian, and Sarah Kovalev-Sheinberg. David Olvera was the highest overall SOCES scorer with 8,609.3 points and was a top 3 scorer in D1 Mathematics and Music, with scores of 914.3 and 960.0, respectively.

“It feels great,” David says. “We had fun competing at state. On Friday we were preparing and Saturday was speech and interview.”

Two other top scorers were Galgamuge Kavidu de Silva with a score of 775.0 for top 3 D1 Individual Essay and 857.1 in Mathematics and Cristian Claiborne with 995.0 in top 3 D1 Interview.

They will be competing in In-Person National Finals with Lemoore Middle College and El Camino Real High School while Granada Hills Charter, University, and Verdugo Hills High School are competing virtually.