On April 1, Cathedral Chapel School in Los Angeles beat 110 schools to win the 2017 U.S. Catholic Schools Academic Junior High Decathlon in Sacramento, marking the second time the middle school has brought home the state championship.

“The win is proof that anything is possible when talent is combined with character and hard work,” the school said in a press release, stressing the many hours the students put into studying for the competition — dedicating vacation days, Friday nights, weekends and lunch hours to practice and study. 

“They jumped into it and didn’t lose momentum,” the school’s principal Tina Kipp said.

The school also took home a first place trophy in logic, and placed second in the “super quiz” event. In addition, team members received individual awards.

Kacey Kim won third place in religion, Skye Connors placed third in English, Maanasi Narayan won second place in science, Grace Kim won second place in literature and Gabriel Fellin received the first place award in fine arts.