The state champions will now pursue the title of national champions.
Four Bridgewater-Raritan High School sophomores—Neil Parikh, Kartik Khurana, Rahul Kopparapu and Varun Naarayan—will compete in the 2026 National Finals of the National Economics Challenge that will be held in Atlanta, Georgia, from May 27 through May 29.
The team earned the right to compete for a national championship when they represented New Jersey and passed the test in the National Economics Challenge semifinals on Thursday, April 23, during a virtual competition held in Bridgewater-Raritan High School’s Library Classroom C.
The foursome faced 45 tests that took 45 minutes during the semifinals, which were held on a day during Bridgewater-Raritan’s Unit Lunch period.
The team is guided by Abbe Rubin, the Advisor of the Economics Challenge Club and the Library Media Specialist at Bridgewater-Raritan High School.
The Bridgewater-Raritan students, Ms. Rubin, and families will now join seven other schools from throughout the country that qualified for the trip to the championships in Atlanta.
Bridgewater-Raritan had originally qualified for the National Economics Challenge semifinals after winning the New Jersey Economics Challenge state championship on March 27.
However, one student who participated in the foursome during the National Economics Challenge and the New Jersey Economics Challenge championship run, junior JianKai Pan, will not make the trip to Atlanta with Rahul, Neil and Kartik.
JianKai, a key contributor to the team’s success, will not be able to attend the National Finals and has been replaced by Varun.