KATY, Texas (Covering Katy News) — Cinco Ranch High School sophomore Anika Das won a national championship at the 2026 Future Business Leaders of America National Leadership Conference in San Antonio, leading a standout performance by Cinco Ranch High School students that also included three additional top-10 national finishes. The results were confirmed through the official FBLA National Top Ten list.
The conference, held June 29 through July 2 at the Henry B. González Convention Center, brought together the nation's top FBLA competitors after they qualified through their respective state competitions.
Three other Cinco Ranch students also earned national recognition. David Disanto placed seventh in Personal Finance, Naitik Patel finished eighth in Introduction to Information Technology, and Lucas Chen placed 10th in Data Science & Artificial Intelligence.
In all, 14 Cinco Ranch High School students qualified for the national conference after advancing through the Texas FBLA State Leadership Conference in March, earning the opportunity to represent both their school and the state of Texas on the national stage.
Das said she never expected to leave San Antonio as a national champion.
"When I saw my name on the screen for pre-call, I was surprised my name was even up there," Das said. "During my test, I flagged almost one-third of the questions, so placing first felt so surreal."
Das said she marked nearly one-third of the computer-based exam questions for review because she was uncertain about some of her answers. Despite those doubts, she earned the highest score in the nation in her event.
Photo provided
Top to bottom, left to right: David Disanto, Deeptanva Roy, Luka Barrio, Gaurav Vatnani, Yuk Ki Wu, Lucas Chen, Naitik Patel, Fabiana Jones, Luca Trinh, Adhvai Reddy, Michelle Onianwa, Anika Das, Christina Le, and Vesna Wu-Yangat the Henry B. González Convention Center in San Antonio.
When they were not competing, students attended business and leadership workshops, networked with fellow FBLA members from across the country and participated in the conference's long-standing tradition of trading collectible state pins.
The trip also gave students an opportunity to experience San Antonio, including visits to the River Walk, the Alamo and Six Flags Fiesta Texas.
"San Antonio was hot, to put it lightly, but Six Flags was exhilarating, and the scenery at the River Walk was stunning," Vesna Wu-Yang said.
FBLA is the nation's largest business career and technical student organization, helping students develop leadership skills and prepare for careers in business, finance, marketing, technology and entrepreneurship through competitive events and professional development.