Originally published at Southern Cross
SAN DIEGO — St. Michael’s School in Poway took first place overall in the 2025 Catholic Academic Junior High Decathlon, which drew 33 teams from local schools.
That victory earned St. Michael’s a slot in the national competition, which was held virtually on March 14 and where they ranked fourth place overall.
St. Michael’s coach, Lisa Matens, said that she and Assistant Coach Amber Samuels are very proud of their team’s “grit and determination over the past seven months.”
“They have been heroic in their preparations and dedication to practices,” Matens said.
“This year’s competition was tough … The scores separating the first-, second-, and third-place teams (at the diocesan-level contest) were very close,” she said, “and we recognize that, had one or two questions gone the other way, we would not have been holding the perpetual trophy and receiving first-place medals.”
Academic Decathlon, held this year on March 1 at St. Augustine High School, is a “knowledge bowl” competition for Catholic school students in the sixth through eighth grades.
It consists of two team events – the Logic Quiz and the Super Quiz – and eight individual subject tests.
For the Logic Quiz, teams are given one hour to solve
