Competitiveness can be a very positive trait, as long as it's not taken too far. It's when "win" translates to "win at all costs" or "winning is all that matters" that things tend to go badly. See broken down pro athletes, Congress, and Wall Street.
Like Jon Law, I took great pleasure in beating my classmates. Unlike Jon Law, I had a deeper motivation beyond that, so not winning wasn't really a big deal to me. And ultimately, I saw the race to valedictorian as a Wargames scenario - the only way to win the game is not to play.
