Whitney Young Magnet High School Wins State Decathlon Championship

CHICAGO – Whitney Young Magnet High School’s decathlon team recently landed the school’s 20th consecutive state championship win at the 2023 Illinois Academic Decathlon State Competition with Lane Tech College Prep and Amundsen High School taking second and third place. The Whitney Young decathletes will go on to represent Illinois at the United States Academic Decathlon National Competition next month in Frisco, Texas while the Lane team has been invited to join the national online competition. 

“Congratulations to the Whitney Young decathlon team and to all our amazing decathletes,” said CPS CEO Pedro Martinez. “A well-rounded education is foundational to success and these students have shown that they are ready to tackle a wide variety of challenging topics from art and literature to economics and science. We also commend the dedicated staff and family members who supported our students and undoubtedly helped them reach their goals.” 

Eight Chicago Public Schools (CPS) high schools competed in the event, including  the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences, Curie, Mather, Schurz, and Von Steuben, in addition to the top three CPS winners. Overall 11 schools convened at Northeastern University last weekend for the State competition. 

The Whitney Young Dolphins are looking to win their first national decathlon title. 

"The students on this team are among the most resilient, hardest working kids I've taught. Each one is in their own way a paragon of academic excellence, and they continue a long tradition of decathlon success at Whitney Young,” said Whitney Young decathlon coach Ben Gucciardi. “I'm proud of them. Their parents are proud of them. The school is proud of them, and we look forward to going down to Texas this April to show the country how we do things in Chicago.”

During a decathlon, each student competes in 10 events: Art, Economics, Essay, Interview, Literature, Math, Music, Science, Social Science and Speech. Team scores are then calculated using the top two individual scores from each division. Whitney Young won with a score of 48,113.3, while Lane Tech (43,038.4) and Amundsen (29,099.9) placed second and third respectively. Whitney Young students Amber Sun and Leon Cao won first place in the Art and Overall Decathlon categories. 

Lane Tech’s strong second-place performance qualified the team for a spot in the online national competition - large school division. Students whose teams did not advance to the national competition also have the opportunity to compete as individuals in nationals online. Additional information can be found on the United States Academic Decathlon website. 

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