Scarborough High School has won this year’s state academic decathlon, earning a spot in the national competition next month.

Monmouth Academy, which won the state decathlon last year, placed second.

The statewide academic decathlon pits 14 schools against each other in 10 categories, including art, music, economics and social science. During Saturday’s competition, teams had to take multiple tests, write an essay, give two speeches and sit for an interview. The two top teams also had to compete in a quiz competition.

By the end, 900 points separated the first- and second-place teams, a tight race for the academic decathlon.

Scarborough will now go to the national competition, which is April 14-17 in Chicago.

Noah Cohen, a junior at Scarborough, won a gold medal for earning the highest score Saturday. Shane Donahue, a Monmouth senior, won silver and Kerry Jones, a Scarborough senior, won bronze. Cohen and Donahue competed as scholastic students, meaning they have B averages in school. The competition’s coordinator said this is the first time B-students won the top spots.