Jan. 28, 2025

Jessica Williams won eight individual medals – including four golds – to lead the Hughson High Academic Decathlon to a second-place finish behind Oakdale this year in the 45th annual Stanislaus County competition.

It is the sixth time in the past 10 years that the Huskies have been the runner-up. During that time, Hughson also has won twice and finished third and fourth in the other two years. The Huskies have earned three trips to the California state competition, winning the medium-school championship in 2019. In that same year, Hughson also captured the U.S. national title for schools its size.

For those unfamiliar with academic decathlons, it is the mental equivalent of the strenuous track and field event that seeks to determine the world’s best athletes. Only in this case, it’s the top high school thinkers, divided into three three-person teams based on grade-point average – Varsity (2.99 and below), Scholastic (3.0 to 3.74) and Honors (3.75 and higher). Alternates from each school also compete.

The competition consists of an essay, a speech and interview, lengthy written tests in seven topics (math, economics, art, music, literature, science and social science) and the lightning quick Super Quiz portion, when teams must answer 14 questions in front of a live audience.

Williams – competing in the Varsity division – was first in essay, economics, language and literature, and social science. She was second in speech and art, third in music and fifth in math. Hughson earned 65 medals, a team record. In addition to Williams, gold medals were won by Izzy Becchetti in Honors science and economics, Julian Whiteside in Varsity math, and Shane Lockwood in Alternate language and literature, art and music..

“We did very well,” said Hughson coach Paul Michaelis, whose team will find out later this week if they earned

earned an at-large invitation to this year’s California competition.

Hughson’s Academic Decathletes have been studying and practicing since last summer for the countywide event. Unlike at some schools, at Hughson Academic Decathlon is an elective class, meaning Michaelis and his team have a full period each day to prepare. As the competition nears, they also meet every second or third Saturday to sharpen their skills for the Super Quiz.

Becchetti said she was proud of the work she and her teammates put into getting ready.

“Sure, we got second, but we were so close,” she said. “Testing is exhausting. Seven tests at 30 minutes for each test ends in the participant essentially sleepwalking their way through the awards. … I hope that this positive experience builds up the team for future years as we continue to go after Oakdale.”

Here is a complete list of the Hughson decathletes who won medals:

Braden Ballard (Alternate): Music (3rd)

Izzy Becchetti (Honors): Science (1st), art (1st), economics (3rd), music (3rd), social science (4th)

Sarah Forshey (Alternate): Language and literature (4th)

Andrea Gonzalez Ochoa (Alternate): Social science (2nd), language and literature (4th), art (4th), science (5th), math (5th)

Sophia Kelley (Honors): Math (3rd), language and literature (4th), essay (5th), economics (5th), art (5th), music (5th)

Silah Leazer (Alternate): Art (2nd), music (4th), essay (5th), social science (5th)

Shane Lockwood (Alternate): Language and literature (1st), art (1st), music (1st), science (2nd), economics (3rd), social science (3rd)

Kayden Perez (Honors): Math (3rd), social science (3rd), music (4th), language and literature (5th), art (5th)

Maryna Pimentel (Scholastic): Math (4th), art (5th)

Matthew Ruelas (Alternate): Economics (4th), art (5th)

Bella Villareal (Scholastic): Music (2nd), social science (2nd), language and literature (3rd), art (3rd)

Jillian Wade (Varsity): Art (3rd), science (4th), music (4th), social science (4th)

Julian Whiteside (Varsity): Math (1st), science (2nd), social science (4th), economics (5th)

Jessica Williams (Varsity): Essay (1st), economics (1st), language and literature (1st), social science (1st), speech (2nd), art (2nd), music (3rd), math (5th)

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