DECA Students Set School Records Yet Again at State Career Conference

February 2026, 250+ Issaquah DECA Students competed against the 6,000 top students from around the State in our Career Development Conference. Students competed in a variety of academic, business-themed events: some doing impromptu case-studies, some presenting 20-page business papers they had written, and other events as well. We are so proud of these students, so please congratulate any students you may know.

 

 

 

In addition to our group's success, one student, Riya Jonnala, completed her year as a State Officer, the Area 4 President. Riya did an incredible job providing student leadership and running the ceremonies at State Competition. She was an excellent officer this year, and we are so proud of her!

This year, we had another school record breaking event. Here are some quick stats:

• 251 students was the most we've ever sent to State, or previous best was 209.
• 124 students were recognized as "Finalists" meaning they were in the top 15 of their event. Our previous best was 96
• 82 students in qualified for the International Career Development Conference, with 12 student qualifying in multiple events. Our previous bests was 66 students.
• This year, 15 students were recognized as State Champions. Our previous best was 8 students.

The following students were State Champions in their events:

• Avani Akerkar* & Katie Dillon* for Travel & Tourism Team Decision Making*
• Olivia Yang for Quick Service Restaurant Management
• Neil Sharma* for Integrated Marketing Campaign: Event
• William Chee, Divitt Jain, & Oliver Lambert for Business Growth Plan
• Nikitha Mathew* & Pratishta Venkitesh Ranjani* for International Business Plan
• Liam Craig, Rohan Jonnala, & Thejas Prajesh for Project Management: Career Development
• Nishka Hegde, Nikitha Kondapi, & Vritika Sharma for Project Management: Financial Literacy

These students also all qualified for the International Career Development Conference held in Atlanta in about a month:

• Akshaj Mamidi, Prady Mandalapu, & Shritan Potini: 2^nd Place in Business Growth Plan
• Emily Nguyen, Rithvi Tamhane, & Tianshu Wei: 2^nd Place in Project Management: Career Development
• Eireen Lee, Katie Murray, & John Waldbaum: 2^nd Place in Project Management: Community Giving
• Zooey Hua, Ishani Jain, & Ryoma Yamawaki: 2^nd Place in Sports & Entertainment Operations Research Event
• Xen Neogi: 2th Place in Principles of Business Management & Administration
• Mythri Kumaran & Sanjana Sudhakar: 3^rd Place in Project Management: Financial Literacy
• Ava Datta* & Riya Jonnala*: 3^rd Place in Business Law & Ethics Team Decision Making
• Julia Albuquerque, Shivani Sundaraman, & Mikayla Ta: 4^th Place in Business Growth Plan
• Kayla Li & Austen Yeum: 4^th Place in Independent Business Plan
• Leah Kwak, Miguel Lim, & Joy Tran: 4^th Place in Project Management: Community Awareness
• Srita Bollapragada* & Tvisha Shah*: 4^th Place in School Based Enterprise
• Saharsh Shivshankar: 4^th Place in Principles of Marketing
• Srita Bollapragada*: 5^th Place in Business Services Marketing Series
• Sameeksha Patil: 5^th Place in Innovation Plan
• Nick Gaston: 5^th Place in Entrepreneurship Series
• Arya Bhat* & Suraj Narra*: 5^th Place in Hospitality Services Team Decision Making
• Aditya Gupta & Patrick Yang: 5^th Place in Sports & Entertainment Team Decision Making
• Avyan Agarwal, Kush Bidisaria, & Spencer Yoon: 6^th Place in Finance Operations Research Event
• Avani Akerkar* & Katie Dillon*: 6^th Place in Project Management: Sales Project
• Jinmo Nam: 6^th Place in Business Finance Series
• Jiya Jain: 6^th Place in Quick Service Restaurant Management Series
• Felicia Chow, Aura Mittal, & Marie Narkunas: 7^th Place in Buying & Merchandising Operations Research Event
• Sofia Biesold: 7^th Place in Business Growth Plan
• Kai Claiborne, Aaryan Dey, & Pradyuth Kumar: 7^th Place in Finance Operations Research Event
• Ava Datta* & Riya Jonnala*: 7^th Place in Project Management: Career Development
• Arya Bhat*, Suraj Narra*, & Neil Sharma*: 7^th Place in Project Management: Financial Literacy
• Alexandra Clarke: 7^th Place in Accounting Applications Series
• Avani Awasthi & Diya Leupold: 7^th Place in Buying & Merchandising Team Decision Making
• Aadya Syal: 7^th Place in Innovation Plan
• Michael Iby*: 7^th Place in Retail Merchandising Series
• Eunchae Bae, Emmaline Chiou, & Vivi Yeh: 8^th Place in Hospitality & Tourism Operations Research Event
• Michael Iby* & Ishaan Patel: 8^th Place in International Business Plan
• Noah Razak: 8^th Place in Business Services Marketing Series
• Katherine Dennie, Addison Hammer & Melody Xiao: 9^th Place in Finance Operations Research Event
• Mitali Divekar, Anya Pimkina, & Medha Rao: 9^th Place in Project Management: Community Awareness
• Riya Changole & Saiathmika Guduru: 9^th Place in Financial Services Team Decision Making
• Katelyn Garth Green: 9^th Place in Hospitality and Tourism Professional Selling
• Nikitha Mathew*: 9^th Place in Marketing Communication Series
• Maris Menenberg: 10^th Place in Marketing Communication Series
• Alice Le: 10^th Place in Principles of Business Management & Administration
• Tvisha Shah*: 10^th Place in Retail Merchandising Series 
• Pratishta Venkitesh Ranjani*: 10^th Place in Sports & Entertainment Marketing Series

Any student with a * qualified for ICDC in two events.

In addition to all the names listed above, the following Students were also recognized as Finalists: top performers in their event:

• Henry Holtan in Automotive Services Marketing Series
• Maia Stefani in Business Services Marketing Series
• Terry Clark & Aryan Lal in Buying & Merchandising Team Decision Making
• Charlotte Gore & Quinn Wyant in Entrepreneurship Team Decision Making
• Aryanna Sabharwal in Professional Selling
• Shresta Kandula in Restaurant and Food Service Marketing Series
• Sanvi Srivastava in Retail Merchandising Series & Business Services Operations Research Event
• Maia Esbensen in Sports & Entertainment Marketing Series
• Aarav Dwidedi, Ryan Lee, & Karthik Ravilla in Finance Operations Research Event
• Izzy Emery, Ryan Pang, & Vivian Yi in Project Management: Business Solutions
• Muskaan Chaudry, Ulara Miyazawa, & Ziyu Wang in Project Management: Business Solutions
• Tanisha Brahma, Siddh Maheswaran, & Oliver Wilson in Project Management: Financial Literacy
• Krish Bharath, Ian Jackson, & Darren Lian in Sports & Entertainment Operations Research Event