The 41st annual state competition was held at Mountain View High School in Mesa on March 6-7, 2026. 25 teams and another 90 individuals from high schools across Arizona qualified for the competition. A total of 276 medals were given out to decathletes across 25 high schools. Congratulations to all of our competitors!
Top 10 Teams:
- Hamilton – 45,378.4
- Basha – 44,908.6
- Arizona College Prep – 43,594.1
- Canyon del Oro – 42,112.5
- Mountain View (Mesa) – 41,826
- BASIS Chandler – 40,692.1
- Walden Grove – 40,263
- BASIS Scottsdale – 39,304.3
- Maryvale – 38,423.2
- Casteel – 37,798.4
Hamilton will represent Arizona at the USAD National Competition in late April. Another four will attend in person – Basha, Arizona College Prep, Canyon del Oro, and BASIS Chandler; and three will participate online – Mountain View (Mesa), Walden Grove, and BASIS Scottsdale.
At least 12 individuals from teams not otherwise attending Nationals will compete in California.
Most Improved Team:
Maryvale
Super Quiz Winners:
- Hamilton
- Maryvale
- Walden Grove
Team-Affiliated Decathletes:
- Highest Scoring Student – Claire Zhan, Hamilton
- Outstanding Essay – Kelvin Ye, Hamilton
- Outstanding Interview – Rishi Musti, Hamilton and Ojal Parimisetty, Basha
- Outstanding Speech – Gowri Vinay, BASIS Chandler
Individuals:
- Highest Scoring Student – Tanishq Iyer, Hamilton
- Outstanding Essay – Tanishq Iyer, Hamilton
- Outstanding Interview – Cody Midtun, Basha and Alexandra Hanna, Canyon del Oro
- Outstanding Speech – Smriti Sunil Kumar, BASIS Chandler
Special thanks to two alumni of our program – Stacie Wylie, who acted as our awards program emcee, and Jonathan Hite who was our Quizmaster.
Thanks also go out to all of this year’s coaches for their effort and dedication; the Competition Committee and Regional Coordinators for the amount of work they put into executing our competitions; donors, whose financial support makes the program possible; and all volunteers for generously giving their time and demonstrating their commitment to the youth of Arizona.
The Arizona Academic Decathlon Competition Committee –Â Taylor Reigel (Food), Amber Lynch (Interview), Adam Middleton (Scoring), Jeni Barovian (Speech), Robert Morse (Testing), and Casey Thomas (Super Quiz)