Ceres High School took second place in the 35th Annual Stanislaus County Academic Decathlon held Feb. 7.

The school was awarded second place out of 12 competing schools at the culmination of the competition.

Oakdale High School and Denair High School finished first and third place, respectively.

The Academic Decathlon includes a series of 10 academic tests and demonstrations for students to showcase their skills. These events include mathematics, language and literature, economics, essay, fine arts, speech, music, interview, science, social science, and super quiz.

Co-sponsored by the Stanislaus County Office of Education, Gallo Foundation, and MOSCE Credit Union, the decathlon aims to promote interschool competition in academics.

"Our objective is to recognize student achievement and to emphasize the positive dimensions of education," said SCOE Student Events Coordinator Cheryl Goulart.

Comprised of a two-day series of tests, speeches, and interviews, the decathlon is widely known as the biggest academic event for local high schools, where students were challenged to address this year's theme: "New Alternatives in Energy: Ingenuity and Innovation."

Oakdale collected 46,964.7 points compared to 41,114.4 points. Denair came in third with 38,564.1 points.

In the field of Essay, CHS students Maria Ferreira took Honors Bronze, Justin Moore took Scholastic Silver, Julia Krigbaum took Scholastic Bronze and Ashley Sanchez took Varsity Gold. Austin French claimed Varsity 5th place.

In speech competition, Connor Mills took Scholastic Gold and Ashley Sanchez took Varsity 5th place.

Sanchez also took Varsity 4th place in Mathematics competition and Moore took Scholastic Bronze.

In economics, Ethan Carter claimed Honors 4th place, Moore took Scholastic Bronze, and Sanchez took Varsity Silver.

Top scores for science included: Moore with Scholastic Gold, and Sanchez with Varsity Gold.

Arianne Amparo of Ceres High earned Honors 5th place in Language and Literature while Moore took Scholastic Bronze, Krigbaum took Scholastic 4th place, and Sanchez took Varsity Silver.

In art, Amparo earned Honors 4th place. Krigbaum took Scholastic 4th place. Sanchez claimed Varsity Bronze and Jose Arroyo was alternate 5th place.

In music competition, Krigbaum claimed Scholastic Silver, Moore took Scholastic Bronze, and Sanchez claimed Varsity Silver.

Social Science competition saw five Ceres High top scorers. They were Maria Ferreira, Honors Silver; Arianne Amparo, Honors 4th place; Justin Moore, Scholastic Gold; Connor Mills, Scholastic 5th place; and Ashley Sanchez, Varsity Gold.

Oakdale High School will go on to represent Stanislaus County at the California Academic Decathlon State Finals from March 19 to March 22 in Sacramento.