The 44th annual Merced County Academic Decathlon concluded on Feb. 1, with high school teams from across the county competing in a range of subjects. Students from Los Banos High School and Pacheco High School made an impressive showing in the competition, and many earned top awards.
The coach for the Los Banos High School team is Felix Sanchez, while the coaches for the Pacheco High School team are Damanpreet Sarai and Sharon Lewis.
Several students from both schools have earned awards in various categories:
For economics, Pacheco students Victor Ramirez won the gold medal in the varsity division and Joshua Mendoza won the bronze medal. Eduardo Mowad earned third place in the alternate awards.
For interview, Pacheco’s Joshua Mendoza won the silver medal in the varsity division while Michael Maturino won gold in the scholastic division.
For literature, Los Banos student Marcus Homer earned the bronze medal in the varsity division.
For music, Pacheco’s Mason Ferreira claimed the gold medal in the varsity division.
For science, Joshua Mendoza from Pacheco won the gold medal in the varsity division and Marcus Homer from Los Banos won the bronze.
For speech, Joshua Mendoza from Pacheco won the bronze medal in the varsity division while Los Banos’ Vivian Le earned the gold medal in the honors division.
Additionally, the following coaches received recognition for their dedication: Claire Austin from Los Banos High School and Dominic Mendoza from Pacheco High School.
The competition also featured the awarding of Robert Wayne Scholarships, given to the top-performing students. The scholarship recipients for Los Banos High School were Vivian Le and Marcus Homer, earning $250 each, while Fredy Artiga-Hernandez was awarded $500. Pacheco High School’s Michael Maturino and Joshua Mendoza both earned $250 each while Daisy Abarca was awarded $500.
