The Dobie High School Academic Decathlon team is heading to the state competition once again as they finished second in the regional event, which they hosted Jan. 18-19.

The state competition will be Feb. 29-March 2 in Plano. Success is nothing new to Dobie’s decathlon team, as they claimed national titles in 1992 and 1996, along with finishing third in the nation in 2003. In addition, they have advanced to the state competition 10 times since 1991.

Members of the team include Mariel Arhelger, Chingyung Li, Brandon Nguyen, Amado Gonzalez, Angela Salinas, Ivan Mejia, Ely Dorantes, Brenda Montoya and Daniel Olivarez. The team is coached by Steven Higginbotham and Brad Rampp.

Higginbotham is also a Dobie graduate and was a member of the 1995 team that advanced to state. He is in his third year of teaching U.S. History, sociology and psychology at Dobie.