Tracy AcaDec finishes in top five at state competition
Members of Academic Decathlon starter team: (front row): Surya Nehra, Hamza Raniwala, Kayli Masuda (back row): Daniel Wirtley, Julia Coty, Sukhvir Gill, Rahul Arora, Ayman Baydoun (not pictured): Joshua Blomgren
April 15, 2016
Tracy High’s Academic Decathlon team took fifth place at the state championship in Sacramento on March 20.
“It was actually our first time coming home with a trophy,” coach Jorja Rule said. “The students were positive and gave it their all, so I was proud.”
Although Tracy High’s starter team came in fifth place overall and third place in the Super Quiz, the decathletes still received several medals. All nine students on the starter team earned medals in different categories.
It is fun to meet other people and to see collections of great minds working together,
— Kayli Masuda
Medals won by decathletes: Rahul Arora: Gold Super Overall and Gold Super Scholastic; Ayman Baydoun: Gold Super Overall and Gold Super Scholastic; Joshua Blomgren: Gold Super Overall and Gold Super Scholastic; Julia Coty: Gold Super Overall and Gold Super Varsity Sukhvir Gill: Gold Super Overall and Gold Super Varsity; Masuda: Gold Super Honors and Gold Super Overall; Surya Nehra: Gold Super Honors and Gold Super Overall. Hamza Raniwala: Bronze ShowImp Overall, Bronze ShowImp Honors, Gold Super Honors, and Gold Super Overall; Daniel Wirtley: Gold ShowPrep Overall, Gold ShowPrep Varsity, Gold Super Overall, and Gold Super Varsity.
Raniwala had the best overall score out of Tracy High’s Division 1 team.
“I really wanted to beat my last score of 8900, but I got a score of 8658 and was still happy with it because I knew I did my best,” Raniwala said.
“I felt proud being able to represent Tracy High,” senior Daniel Wirtley said. “It was great to bring home our first state trophy.”
The starter team got together on weekends to study for the state competition. They even got excused from their classes for a week to study in the library.
“We mainly focused on the starter team after we won regionals,” Rule said. “They studied hard, so they could help each other get a good understanding of things that each individual needed to do better on.”
Students were able to collaborate during the multiple choice portion of the competition. This requires strong team strategies and good communication skills.
“During the Super Quiz, we were able to tell that the level of competition was a lot harder at state than at county,” Raniwala said.
Mater Dei, Edison, Racho Cucamonga, and Hughson High were the schools that finished ahead of Tracy. The Nationals competition will take place in late April.
“I was happy with the outcome of the competition,” Raniwala said “Considering it was the first time going to state for a majority of our team members, I was extremely impressed.”
