Souderton Academic Decathlon Wins 3rd State Title in 6 Years
![Academic Decathlon Students]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1678135798/soudertonsdorg/llzxaqrofs7kjmcytnhj/SAHS-Academic-Decathlon-State-Champs-03-2023.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1678135798/soudertonsdorg/llzxaqrofs7kjmcytnhj/SAHS-Academic-Decathlon-State-Champs-03-2023.jpg","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1678135798/soudertonsdorg/llzxaqrofs7kjmcytnhj/SAHS-Academic-Decathlon-State-Champs-03-2023.jpg","width":800}])
The Souderton Academic Decathlon are state champions, again.
On March 2nd through 4th, students from across Pennsylvania competed in the 39th annual Pennsylvania Academic Decathlon, held at Thiel College. Souderton was victorious over 12 other district champions and wild card teams, and advanced to the United States Academic Decathlon National Finals being held in Frisco, TX in late April.
Students competed in ten events – essay, speech, interview, math, music, literature, science, social science, art, and economics, in nine-member teams composed of three honors or “A” students, three scholastic or “B” students, and three varsity or “C” students, forcing teams to work together across different ability levels to learn the same content.
The subjects this year were centered on a theme – The American Revolution. 6 of the 9 members of the PA All-State Team were Souderton students, which is a Souderton program high.
Souderton scored 43,120 out of 60,000 possible points, beating 2nd place and defending state champion Seneca Valley High School by 3,675 points. Souderton has been competing in the Academic Decathlon since 2013 and has won 5 regional titles and 3 state titles in that time. The team is coached by STEM teacher Phil Cerami, mathematics teacher Carolyn Scott, and French teacher Sally Cushmore.
| Team Results | ||
| 1st | SOUDERTON AREA HS | 43,120 |
| 2nd | SENECA VALLEY HS | 39,443 |
| 3rd | MCDOWELL HS | 35,595 |
| 4th | MONITEAU HS | 35,094 |
| 5th | NW PA COLLEGIATE ACADEMY | 34,361 |
| 6th | METHACTON HS | 32,950 |
| 7th | MONTOURSVILLE HS | 32,368 |
| 8th | CARLISLE HS | 31,990 |
| 9th | NORTH CLARION HS | 31,042 |
| 10th | PENNS VALLEY HS | 30,873 |
| 11th | PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA HS | 29,629 |
| 12th | BELLEFONTE HS | 28,428 |
| 13th | CLARION-LIMESTONE HS | 28,380 |
PA All-State Team
| HONORS (4.0-3.80) | |||
| GOLD | SEBASTIAN LIU | NW PA COLLEGIATE ACADEMY | 8,045 |
| SILVER | MARCUS SMITH | SOUDERTON AREA HS | 8,025 |
| BRONZE | PARTH PARIKH | MCDOWELL HS | 7,926 |
| SCHOLASTIC (3.79-3.2) | |||
| GOLD | SHANE RAAB | SOUDERTON AREA HS | 7,211 |
| SILVER | NOLAN HUGHES | SOUDERTON AREA HS | 6,865 |
| BRONZE | NANCY CHEN | SENECA VALLEY HS | 6,393 |
| VARSITY (3.19-0.0) | |||
| GOLD | ANDY CRUZ | SOUDERTON AREA HS | 7,219 |
| SILVER | JOSH UBELE | SOUDERTON AREA HS | 6,524 |
| BRONZE | GABE SMOLA | SOUDERTON AREA HS | 6,292 |
INDIVIDUAL MEDALS – SOUDERTON AREA HS
Honors Division (3.8-4.0)
- Marcus Smith – All-State Team, Gold in Music, Art, Literature, Social Science, Silver in Economics
- Ashley Caputo – Silver in Science, Speech
- Kyle Berdy – Gold in Science
Scholastic Division (3.2-3.8)
- Shane Raab – All-State Team, Gold in Music, Art, Social Science, Silver in Economics, Bronze in Essay, Science
- Nolan Hughes – All-State Team, Gold in Science, Math, Silver in Music
- El Ross – Gold in Literature, Silver in Art, Bronze in Music, Economics
Varsity Division (0.0-3.2)
- Andy Cruz – All-State Team, Gold in Music, Art, Literature, Interview, Silver in Economics, Science, Speech, Bronze in Math, Social Science
- Josh Ubele – All-State Team, Gold in Essay, Art, Interview, Silver in Music, Bronze in Economics, Speech, Bronze in Social Science
- Gabe Smola – All-State Team, Gold in Economics, Science, Math, Bronze in Literature, Speech