Late nights, early mornings and stacks of study materials culminated in one final competition for Coppell High School’s Academic Decathlon team.

After months of preparation, the team finished 25th in the large school division at the Texas State Academic Decathlon (AcDec) competition, held from Feb. 28-March 2 at the University of Texas at San Antonio, closing the book on a season of growth and determination.

Finishing with a score of over 40,000, Coppell held its own among the top academic teams in the state.

Two members managed to make it into the top 20 individual performances, with junior Harshvardhan Vinoth Kumar placing 20th overall in the honors division with 8,803.1 points, while acting senior captain Raihaan Girish secured third place in the varsity division with 8,187.6 points.

“I’m mad that I got third; I’m competitive,” Girish said. “I always want to win, but the people that I lost to are very deserving. I should have studied harder from the beginning.”

Despite its impressive performance at state, Coppell’s journey was anything but easy.

The team battled through the region meet on Jan. 25 at Hebron High School, ultimately securing sixth place and qualifying for state.

However, the team was initially unsure if they were even going to qualify at all.

“You see your kids and so you go, ‘we’re going to be lucky to even make it to state,” AcDec adviser Tim Dixon said. “Then, all of a sudden, they’re all together and studying like, ‘Oh wow,  wait, we got a chance!”

The regional performance set the stage for an intense preparation period leading up to state. With just more than a month to refine their skills, the team maintained a rigorous schedule, meeting almost daily to review each of the 10 subject areas covered in competition, including events about art, math, economics, interview and others.

“We would always have a meeting after school almost every day,” senior Tokhir Umarov said. “We might focus on math on Mondays, science on Tuesdays, economics on Wednesday and then we usually come in early on Saturday mornings to practice our speech interview.”

The team’s dedication paid off, with several students improving their scores from regionals to state, including Umarov, who improved his score by over 1,000 points.

The state competition brought together the best AcDec teams from across Texas, pushing Coppell’s competitors to their limits.

Over the course of three days, students competed in a variety of subjects, ranging from economics to literature, as well as in performance events like speech and interview.

“There were a lot of really good teams there,” Dixon said. “You could tell how much time and effort these students had put into this competition, and our team was right there with them.”

For many competitors, speech and interview proved to be some of the most challenging events.

Umarov, who had extensively practiced his speech skills throughout the year, managed to display his expertise in the competition.

“I always get so nervous before speeches, but once I started talking, it was fine,” Umarov said. “I think it helped a lot that we practiced them so much before state.”

Despite the pressure, Coppell held its own against the elite competition and members felt an overall satisfaction with their final performance.

“We stayed up three nights to study,” Girish said. “It was stressful. I was almost sleeping in the exam, but we got through.”

While Coppell reached the state level during the 2025 season, it also marked the conclusion of the CHS official AcDec program.

Despite this organization ending, team members hope to continue competing in some capacity.

“I want it to not end and at least give [future] kids an opportunity to have a club later,” Girish said.

For Umarov, the discontinuation of the program is particularly disappointing given the opportunities AcDec provides.

“It’s unfortunate. People actually won scholarships,” Umarov said. “There’s a lot of talent here in Coppell because we’re known for actually making the biggest improvements. It’s unfortunate it’s shutting down.”

As the team reflects on its season, from qualifying at regionals to competing on the state’s biggest stage, they take pride in their accomplishments and the hard work that led them there.

“We had a great time,” Dixon said. “I loved it and it closed off with a great year, regardless of what we scored.”

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