May 7, 2009

For the third straight year, the University High School Academic Decathlon team has won the Small School Virtual National Championship.

University High is chartered by the Fresno Unified School District and is located on the California State University, Fresno campus.

On the winning team are seniors David Matsushita, Erin Yeagle, Alex Peterson and Zachary Bernel; juniors Carolynn Jimenez, Jared Rorabaugh, Albert Chang and Nathan Matteson; and sophomore Taylor Barry.

Sean Canfield, a history teacher, has coached all three University High champion teams.

The championship is the culmination of preparation throughout this school year that included winning at Fresno County and statewide levels to reach the national competition.

Academic Decathlon national competition tests teams of top scholars from schools across the United States in 10 academic events. Because University High competes online, the interview and speech portions of the usual face-to-face competition are omitted.

Virtual competition was instituted in 2006 so schools that could afford to travel for national contests still could participate.