Bridgewater-Raritan Sophomores Advances To National Economics Challenge Finals In Atlanta

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — Bridgewater-Raritan High School will be represented in Atlanta later this month after four students qualified for the 2026 National Finals of the National Economics Challenge.

Sophomores Neil Parikh, Kartik Khurana, Rahul Kopparapu and Varun Naarayan will compete in the national championship event from May 27 through May 29 in Atlanta, Georgia.

The team secured its place in the finals after representing New Jersey and passing the National Economics Challenge semifinals on Thursday, April 23, during a virtual competition held in Bridgewater-Raritan High School’s Library Classroom C.

The semifinal round included 45 tests completed in 45 minutes and was held during a day in Bridgewater-Raritan’s Unit Lunch period.

The Bridgewater-Raritan team is guided by Abbe Rubin, the advisor of the Economics Challenge Club and the library media specialist at Bridgewater-Raritan High School.

The students, Rubin and their families will join seven other schools from around the country that also qualified for the trip to the championships in Atlanta.

Bridgewater-Raritan had advanced to the semifinal round after winning the New Jersey Economics Challenge state championship on March 27.

That state title put the team in position to compete for a national berth, which it later earned in the virtual semifinal competition.

The roster heading to Atlanta will not be identical to the one that helped the school win the state title and compete in the earlier national round.

Junior JianKai Pan, who participated in the foursome during the National Economics Challenge and the New Jersey Economics Challenge championship run, will not travel to the national finals.

JianKai was a key contributor to the team’s success but will not be able to attend the National Finals. Varun has replaced him on the team that will compete in Atlanta alongside Rahul, Neil and Kartik.

The upcoming trip now gives Bridgewater-Raritan a chance to compete for a national championship after already claiming the state title.

The national finals are scheduled to run for three days, from May 27 through May 29, in Atlanta.

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