Granada Hills Charter Vies for Sixth National Decathlon Title

GRANADA HILLS, CA: Granada Hills Charter High School sought to defend its title Thursday as the United States Academic Decathlon got under way in Madison, Wisconsin, with the team hoping to bring home its sixth national championship and third in a row.

Teams from across the country were expected to gather in Wisconsin for the intensive three-day competition, with the winner set to be announced Saturday.

Granada Hills won the state Academic Decathlon in Sacramento in March, marking the sixth time the school has won the title in the past seven years. The nine-member squad scored 55,211 out of a possible 60,000 points.

Members of the team are Melissa Santos, Mark Aguila, Sabrina Carlos, Jordan Barretto, Sebastian Gonzalez, Christopher Lo, Kevin Ly, Aishah Mahmud and Peter Shin, with alternates Justin Chiang, Dilawar Khan and Sarah Thraen.

The coaches are Harsimar Dhanoa, Rachael Phipps and Jon Sturtevant.

Granada Hills has won the state decathlon every year since 2011, except 2014.

The school has won the national Academic Decathlon five times, taking home the crown in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2016. This year's team includes four members of last year's championship squad -- Santos, Aguila, Los and Mahmud.

The theme of this year's competition is World War II.

A California school has won the national championship 14 consecutive years, and Los Angeles Unified School District schools have won 17 national championships since 1986.

-- City News Service; Image via Usad.org