For the 19th time in 22 years, and the fourth consecutive year, the Nimitz team has taken first place in regional competition. Nimitz scored a total of 45,224 points, 2,500 points above second place finisher Marcus High School from Flower Mound ISD.
Nimitz decathletes won a total of 75 medals during the meet.
Individually, Marcos Vera led the team with 11 medals, was the first place “A” student, and was the top scoring student at the regional meet. Marcus Johnson won nine medals and was the third place “A” student, and Maria O'Connor won four medals and earned the team's third highest score. For “B” students, David Orozco won 11 medals and took second, Vy Cao-Nguyen won eight medals and placed third, and Merhawi Hailemariam placed sixth, winning five medals. Celeste Martinez led the way among “C” students winning a team-high 12 medals and placing first in the category. Patrick Lewis won eight medals and placed second, and Jasmine Perkins won seven medals and placed fifth in the “C” student category.
“We did very little differently this year,” Academic Decathlon Coach Greg Jackson said. “We have a plan of action that we use pretty much every year.” Jackson also said that in preparing for regional competition, the team was concerned with the Super Quiz event and Prana Thoppil, the assistant coach specializing in Super Quiz, worked very hard with the students to address those concerns.
Vy Cao-Nguyen, David Orozco, and Marcus Johnson all had perfect scores in the Super Quiz Relay and Nimitz won first place in the Super Quiz competition and the Super Quiz Relay. Jackson said the Nimitz team returned only two members from last year’s Academic Decathlon Team, seniors Celeste Martinez and Patrick Lewis.
He also expressed his appreciation for the team’s assistant coaches: Greg Thomson, Jeremy Chumley, Joanna Easton, and Prana Thoppil.
In the large school division, MacArthur High School earned 34,788 points placing eighth and Irving High School finished with 24,976 points, placing them 14th.
In the medium schools division, The Academy of Irving ISD earned 28,804 points and earning 12th place.
Nimitz Academic Decathlon team will travel to state competition in Houston February 27-28.
Currently ranked second in the state after regional competition, Nimitz is 1,293 points behind defending state champion Pearland High School of Pearland ISD, which is located approximately 17 miles south of Houston.
