Irving ISD Academic Decathlon teams are among the best in Texas! At the state competition in San Antonio this past weekend, Nimitz capped off its best season since 2015 with a fifth-place finish, while Irving High snagged 11th place – the school’s best ever finish.
Nimitz Results
Leading the way for Nimitz, as he has for three years, was Alan Ta, who capped his career by scoring 9,150 points (out of a possible 10,000), breaking the Nimitz all-time scoring record of 9,115 from 2000. Juan Gonzalez concluded his outstanding career by finishing as the No. 2 Scholastic student in the state and winning a $1,500 scholarship. For the second year in a row, Karen Garcia posted a perfect score in the Interview competition. Jessica Aguilera won a medal in Art, while Rodrigo Betancourt medaled in Math. In addition, first-year competitor Melanie Chapman scored more than 8,000 points for the second meet in a row. Ryan Truong, Walter Herrera and Dayana Lopez also strongly contributed.
“Only four 6A schools in the entire state of Texas outscored the Vikings in this prestigious academic competition,” says Nimitz Academic Decathlon Coach Greg Jackson.
The team is also coached by Greg Thomson, Marc Slette, and Marlene Hernandez.
Irving Results
In addition to their highest ever ranking, Irving High students won the bronze in the Super Quiz Relay by correctly answering 32 out of 39 questions. Madelyn Moore scored a team-high 8,118 points and garnered medals in Interview, Science and Super Quiz Relay. The team’s lone senior, Giancarlos Dominguez, scored 8,094 points and collected medals in Social Studies, Literature and Super Quiz Relay. Nicholas Perez won medals in Social Studies, Music and Super Quiz Relay. Angel Diaz was the team’s highest scoring varsity student with 6,965 points, barely edging Levi Hensley, who scored 6,956 points. Other strong team contributors were Christian Abrego, Victoria Gillespie, Aaron Rocha and Jeremy Vasquez.
“What makes these achievements even more special is that our school had one the youngest teams competing at the competition, with four sophomores on the team,” says Irving Academic Decathlon Coach James Newman.
Other coaches are Randall Winter, Carlos Cruz, Ethan Cherry, Frank Houser, Jonathan Fontenot and Cecelia Holden.
