Waukesha West, South Academic Decathlon Teams Advance to State

Two Waukesha high school academic decathlon teams will be advancing to the state competition based on results from last Friday’s regional competition at the GE Healthcare Institute in Pewaukee.

Long-dominant took second at the regional competition, edged out by New Berlin Eisenhower in first place, and took fourth, with Menomonee Falls taking third. placed eighth out of 12 teams.

“The students did a very respectable job,” West Academic Decathlon Coach Susan Otto said. However, the team was disappointed not to take first place. It is first time West hasn’t won their regional competition since becoming a winning team but Eisenhower proved to be strong competitors.

“We have been leading the state for a number of years, and we were hoping to be in that position again,” said Otto. Otto, former coach of South’s team, replaced .

However, West met a “worthy competitor” in New Berlin Eisenhower and the team will be working on a game plan to take their competition to the next level, Otto said.

“Having someone close to you like that keeps you on your toes,” she said.

Sixty teams throughout the state competed at the regional competitions. Waukesha West placed second of all those teams, according to the state-wide Wisconsin Academic Decathlon organization. Waukesha South placed sixth.

The competition in this region is very strong overall. Out of the 20 teams going to state based on their scores at the regional competition, eight are from the regional competition that included the Waukesha teams.

The winners of the five different regional competitions are guaranteed a berth at the state level competition, as are top three scoring in four different sized-based divisions. Lastly, the next three top scoring teams are eligible to compete at the state level.

for 10 consecutive years. The state competition will be held March 15 and 16. The theme of this year's academic decathlon is The Age of Empire.