SAN DIEGO — The 2026 Catholic Academic Junior High Decathlon concluded on March 20 with the national level of the competition.
Twenty-two teams, each of which won first place in their regional competition almost two weeks earlier, participated virtually.
How did San Diego students do on the national stage?
“The Diocese of San Diego had an outstanding performance,” said Elizabeth Kramer, associate superintendent of the diocese’s Catholic schools and a decathlon regional coordinator.
Representing the diocese was the team from St. Michael’s School in Poway, which emerged from the regional competition ranked first-place-overall, as well as the first-place winners in eight individual subject tests — Current Events, English, Fine Arts, Literature, Math, Religion, Science and Social Studies.
Nationally, St. Michael’s School took second-place-overall — an improvement from last year’s fourth-place ranking. (First place went to a team from St. Edward the Confessor School in the Diocese of Orange.)
St. Michael’s also won second place in the SuperQuiz, a decathlon event in which each 10-member team is given an hour to collaborate in answering 50 multiple-choice questions related to Fine Arts, Literature, Religion, Science and Social Studies.
Participating in the individual subject tests at the national competition, three San Diego students earned additional distinction.
Arielle Smith, from Mater Dei Catholic Elementary School, took first place in English.
Makenna Mohnacky, of St. Patrick School in Carlsbad, tied for first place in Fine Arts, earning a perfect score on the test.
Nathan Lee, from St. Michael’s School, won third place in Math.
For more information, visit catholicajhd.org or email ekramer@sdcatholic.org.
