2008 Academic Decathlon Winners

decathlon082: 2008 Academic DecathlonStockdale High School’s Gatz Nieblas did not have time on Feb. 2 to contemplate who had the best chance of winning the NFL Super Bowl the next day. Not being distracted paid off. Stockdale High School received the Claude W. Richardson perpetual trophy as the overall team winner of the 28th annual Kern County Academic Decathlon held on Feb. 2 at Bakersfield College. Approximately 200 students from 19 high schools participated. The theme for the event nationwide was The Civil War. Nieblas had another name for the Decathlon, “the Intellectual Super Bowl.”

Stockdale outscored Bakersfield High, which finished second and Cesar Chavez High from Delano, which finished third.

Stockdale will represent Kern County in the California Academic Decathlon scheduled March 7-10 in Sacramento. The state winner advances to the national finals April 30-May 3 in Garden Grove, CA.

Other schools placing in the overall top 10 were: Arvin High – fourth, Wasco High – fifth, West High – sixth, Mojave High – seventh, Centennial High – eighth, Frontier High – ninth and Shafter High – tenth.

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.

The Academic Decathlon is made up of 10 events, including Art, Economics, Essay, Interview, Language and Literature, Mathematics, Music, Science, Speech and Super Quiz (written and oral).

Paced by Laura Stearns, who recorded seven individual category wins and had the highest individual points of all the competitors, Stockdale placed first in all 10 team categories. Stearns and the next six highest finishers from Kern County will be honored on March 11 in Sacramento with the first ever Governor’s Academic Recognition Award. The others in order of finish were Melissa Couch, Johnathan Shih and Michael Brown from Stockdale High, Jordan Goh and Grant Paulson from Bakersfield High and Stephen Wight, Stockdale. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will recognize the top 177 academic students from the state’s 58 counties with a dinner in their honor.

Stearns, a three-year member of Stockdale’s Academic Decathlon team, also led the way last year, when Stockdale also won.

“This one was broader than last year,” Stearns said. “It had many more in depth questions that dealt with the opinions of historical figures. I’ve been doing it for three years because the Decathlon gives me an opportunity to broaden my area of study from what I learn in the classroom. To give you an example, last year, when we were studying China for Decathlon, I discovered how the Chinese tune musical instruments much differently than we do."

Arvin High achieved a bit of school history with its first ever victory in the oral Super Quiz competition, an honor it shared with Stockdale High by virtue of a tie between the two. The two schools will share the Milo E. Hall Super Quiz Trophy, a non-scoring award that goes to the winner of the oral portion of the Super Quiz. "The Civil War" was the theme for Super Quiz. Super Quiz consists of a written test and a 30-question, orally-administered quiz show kind of format where schools' teammates, family and friends cheer every time the numbers are flipped over to reveal who is leading.

“I cried,” said Arvin High team member Estephani Garcia. “This was my third year competing in Academic Decathlon. Never before had we ever won a Super Quiz. It was a shock. What a proud way to end my senior year.”

In overall Super Quiz, where the team score counts, Stockdale High placed first, Bakersfield High second and Arvin High third.

The following are the final individual results.

OVERALL STUDENT WINNERS (Student-School-Division)

1st – Laura Stearns, Stockdale, Honors; Michael Brown, Stockdale, Scholastic; Grant Brady, Stockdale, Varsity

2nd – Melissa Couch, Stockdale, Honors; Jordan Goh, Bakersfield, Scholastic; Roman Garza, Cesar Chavez, Varsity

3rd – Johnathan Shih, Stockdale, Honors; Stephen Wight, Stockdale, Scholastic; Anthony Goyette, Bakersfield, Varsity

INDIVIDUAL STUDENT CATEGORY WINNERS:

Language and Literature

1st – Laura Stearns, Honors, Stockdale; Michael Brown, Stockdale, Scholastic; Phillip Viramontes, Arvin, Scholastic: Roman Garza, Cesar Chavez, Varsity, Micaela Neira, Stockdale, Varsity, Anthony Goyette, Bakersfield, Varsity

2nd – Christopher Anderson, Bakersfield, Honors; Angelica Torres, Wasco, Scholastic; Ingrid Martinez, Arvin, Varsity; Eduardo Figueroa, Wasco, Varsity

3rd – Melissa Couch, Stockdale, Honors; Evelyn Zuniga, Arvin, Honors; Stephen Wight, Stockdale, Scholastic; Jordan Goh, Bakersfield, Scholastic; Grant Brady, Stockdale, Varsity

Music

1st – Laura Stearns, Stockdale, Honors; Jordan Goh, Bakersfield, Scholastic; Sean Panick, Bakersfield, Varsity

2nd – Johnathan Shih, Stockdale, Honors; Michael Brown, Stockdale, Scholastic; Cynthia Rivera, Cesar Chavez, Varsity

3rd – Abigail Orfano, Cesar Chavez, Honors; Juliet Kidwell, Mojave, Scholastic; Roman Garza, Cesar Chavez, Varsity

Science

1st – Melissa Couch, Stockdale, Honors; Jordan Goh, Bakersfield, Scholastic; Grant Brady, Stockdale, Varsity

2nd – Laura Stearns, Stockdale, Honors; Stephen Wight, Stockdale, Scholastic; Roman Garza, Cesar Chavez, Varsity

3rd – Johnathan Shih, Stockdale, Honors; Estephani Garcia, Arvin, Honors; Alejandro Martinez, Wasco, Honors; Wesley Elrich, Bakersfield, Scholastic; Corina Ruiz, Wasco, Scholastic; Micaela Neira, Stockdale, Varsity

Art

1st – Michael Brown, Stockdale, Scholastic; Laura Stearns, Stockdale, Honors; Roman Garza, Cesar Chavez, Varsity

2nd – Jordan Goh, Bakersfield, Scholastic; Johnathan Shih, Stockdale, Honors; Melissa Couch, Stockdale, Honors; Anthony Goyette, Bakersfield, Varsity

3rd – Dafne Luna, Cesar Chavez, Scholastic; Alejandro Martinez, Wasco, Honors; Grant Brady, Stockdale, Varsity; Matthew Miller, Bakersfield, Varsity; Sean Panick, Bakersfield, Varsity

Mathematics

1st – Laura Stearns, Stockdale, Honors; Stephen Wight, Stockdale, Scholastic; Anthony Goyette, Bakersfield, Varsity

2nd – Melissa Couch, Stockdale, Honors; Christopher Underhill, Bakersfield Christian, Honors; Grant Paulson, Bakersfield, Honors; Edwin Nunez, Cesar Chavez, Scholastic; Christine Hagerman, Centennial, Scholastic; Benjamin Bradley, Wasco, Scholastic; Miles Johnson, Liberty, Varsity

3rd – Abigail Orfano, Cesar Chavez, Honors; Johnathan Shih, Stockdale, Honors; Michael Brown, Stockdale, Scholastic; Jairus Vasquez, Bakersfield, Scholastic; Grant Brady, Stockdale, Varsity; David Escobar, West, Varsity; Edward Jones, West, Varsity

Economics

1st – Laura Stearns, Stockdale, Honors; Stephen Wight, Stockdale, Scholastic; Sean Panick, Bakersfield, Varsity

2nd – Johnathan Shih, Stockdale, Honors; Jordan Goh, Bakersfield, Scholastic; Gatz Nieblas, Stockdale, Varsity

3rd – Melissa Couch, Stockdale, Honors; Jeffrey Cooke, Frontier, Scholastic; Grant Brady, Stockdale, Varsity; Anthony Goyette, Bakersfield, Varsity

Essay

1st – Laura Stearns, Stockdale, Honors; Melissa Couch, Stockdale, Honors; Manuel Barrios, East Bakersfield, Scholastic; Grant Brady, Stockdale, Varsity

2nd – Amanda Scales, West, Honors; Patrick Arvizu, West, Scholastic; Micaela Neira, Stockdale, Varsity

3rd – Johnathan Shih, Stockdale, Honors; Tyler Murray, Stockdale, Scholastic; Gatz Nieblas, Stockdale, Varsity

Speech

1st – Roman Garza, Cesar Chavez, Varsity; Grant Brady, Stockdale, Varsity; Michael Brown, Stockdale, Scholastic; Melissa Couch, Stockdale, Honors; Anthony Goyette, Bakersfield, Varsity; Jairus Vasquez, Bakersfield, Scholastic; Benjamin Bradley, Wasco, Scholastic

2nd – Paulina Gamez, Arvin, Honors; Mark Trujillo, Arvin, Scholastic; Isamar Garcia, Mojave, Scholastic; Cynthia Rivera, Cesar Chavez, Varsity

3rd – Laura Stearns, Stockdale, Honors; Edwin Nunez, Cesar Chavez, Scholastic; Gatz Nieblas, Stockdale, Varsity; Matthew Miller, Bakersfield, Varsity

Interview

1st – Estephani Garcia, Arvin, Honors; Matthew Rodgers, Highland, Honors; Jazmin Morales, Bakersfield Christian, Varsity; Tyler Murray, Stockdale, Scholastic

2nd – Diana McDermott, Liberty, Honors; Jairus Vasquez, Bakersfield, Scholastic; Cynthia Rivera, Cesar Chavez, Varsity

3rd – Aubrey Singh, Frontier, Honors; Juliet Kidwell, Mojave, Scholastic; Gatz Nieblas, Stockdale, Varsity

Super Quiz

1st — Laura Stearns, Stockdale, Honors; Jordan Goh, Bakersfield, Scholastic; Grant Brady, Stockdale, Varsity

2nd — Melissa Couch, Stockdale, Honors; Phillip Viramontes, Arvin, Scholastic; Roman Garza, Cesar Chavez, Varsity

3rd — Evelyn Zuniga, Arvin, Honors; Stephen Wight, Stockdale, Scholastic; Eduardo Figueroa, Wasco, Varsity

Academic Decathlon is co-sponsored by the Kern County Superintendent of Schools and Kern County Academic Decathlon Association.
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