On Saturday, the St. Francis High School Academic Decathlon Team placed first at the Southern California Private Schools Academic Decathlon (SCPAD) Competition held at Alemany High School.

Day one of the contest, which took place on Jan. 28, consisted of the subjective tests, essay, speech and interview. Day two, which took place on Feb. 4, consisted of the objective tests, including the oral super quiz, and concluded with a team dinner, awards ceremony and celebration.

At the end of the night, the efforts of the young men from St. Francis and their coach Dirk Dierking were rewarded with a first place finish.

The success of the St. Francis Academic Decathlon Team this past weekend allows the team to move on to compete in the California Academic Decathlon State Championship in Sacramento tentatively scheduled for March 15-18.