For the fourth straight year, Bret Harte represented Calaveras County at the State Academic Decathlon this past weekend in Santa Clara. The small but mighty Bullfrogs, led by Senior Paulina Vallejo, brought six medals home to the Pond. Vallejo earned a gold in Music competing in the Scholastic Division. The theme for this year's competition was the 1920s and obviously, the music competition was the genre of jazz.
"Paulina qualified for State as a freshman, which in itself has been unique for us," said Truman. "And this year she made it her goal to return as a Senior and medal in her favorite subject — music. She has spent the better part of the school year studying the history of jazz, the compositions, the writers and performers, as well as the fundamentals of music."
Returning to the medal stand for the second year in a row was Senior Brayden Bowersox who had earned a gold in the math competition in 2025. This year, Bowersox earned silver in math along with a silver in speech with his "Was it Worth It," a speech about making social sacrifices to achieve one's goals. In addition, he was recognized with a medal for the overall highest scoring Decathlete from Bret Harte. Bowersox has been accepted to attend Stanford University in the Fall, "A goal he had set for himself as a freshman," stated Truman.
Senior Gabriel Forjan also qualified for state as a junior. "Gabe took note of the higher expectations between the Regional competition (Tuolumne and Calaveras Counties) and State, and this year he worked hard to earn at least one medal in his two preferred subjects — math and science," said Truman. "I'm really happy that he has earned his just rewards for his efforts," said Truman.
For the first time in recent history a Freshman Bullfrog earned a state medal, Luka Holbert competing in Science at the Varsity division. "Luka is the type of student he knows what he knows and locks in to master what he knows," said Truman. "He has three more years to flip that silver into a gold over-and-over again."
Also competing for the Bullfrogs: Third year decathlete and third year State competitor senior Cheyenne Stephens; Second year and first year state competitor junior Elliott Hungerford; First year senior Madison Wilkinson; and freshman Blake Bowersox. Overall, Bret Harte placed 8th out of 17 schools in Division IV.
"I anticipate continued success for the Bullfrogs when Elliott and Blake join Luka on medal stand next year," said Truman.”
Medalist Overview:
Gold Music -- Paulina Vallejo (Scholastic)
Silver Speech -- Brayden Bowersox (Honors)
Silver Math -- Brayden Bowersox (Honors)
Silver Science -- Gabriel Forjan (Scholastic)
Silver Science -- Luka Holbert (Varsity)
Highest Team Score -- Braydon Bowersox
Vallejo joins four other Bullfrogs that medaled in gold at the California Academic Decathlon competition: Jackson Oliver ’21 in math; Shannon O'Flinn '23 in essay; Owen Gayle ‘24 in speech; Brayden Bowersox ’26 in speech. To view all Bret Harte ACADEC history, visit https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NCiKwxZWfNYMmqWF5jip9Q48HuDDSiMlUFhL3wFUQUo/edit?usp=sharing.
Learn more about the California Academic Decathlon at https://academicdecathlon.org/.
Photo courtesy of Ms. Truman. Pictured, left to right, is Bowersox, Forjan, Vallejo, and Holbert.