| Published April 19th, 2017 | Campolindo team shines at state Academic Decathlon finals | | Submitted by Jonathan Lance | ![](../issue1104/images/1104-03901.jpg) | The entire Campolindo Academic Decathlon team. | The recently crowned Contra Costa County High School Academic Decathlon Champions, Campolindo High School, successfully represented Contra Costa County during the weekend of March 23-26, at the 2017 California Academic Decathlon, held in Sacramento.
Campolindo's coach Paul Verbanszky reported that the team represented their county very well at the state competition. The team took sixth place, overall, in Division 2 (medium-size school), and picked up a number of individual awards:
Zoe Portnoff, First Place (Gold), Overall Scores; Scholastic Division; First Place (Gold) in the Interview Competition, Scholastic Division; Third Place (Bronze) in the subject of Literature, Scholastic Division; First Place (Gold) in the subject of Music, Scholastic Division; First Place (Gold) in the subject of Social Science, Scholastic Division; Third Place (Bronze) in the subject of Art, Scholastic Division.
Ashley Zhang, Seventh Place, Highest Scoring Student by a School; Overall; Second Place (Silver) in the subject of Art, Honors Division.
Mikhail Vasilyev, First Place (Gold) in the Essay Competition, Scholastic Division; Second Place (Silver) in the subject of Social Science, Scholastic Division.
Athya Uthayakumar, First Place (Gold) in the subject of Science, Scholastic Division.
Bennett Coates, Second Place (Silver) in the subject of Science, Scholastic Division.
Verbanszky teaches AP psychology and government/economics, and has been Campolindo's Academic Decathlon coach since 2005. They have won the county's Academic Decathlon title for the past seven consecutive years. His Academic Decathlon is an after-school club with funding coming from donations and fundraising.
"It is a tremendous accomplishment to compete in the State Competition, says Verbanszky.
"I am very proud of my students."
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