Torrey Pines Wins Academic Competition

Torrey Pines High School in Del Mar has won the San Diego County Academic Decathlon for the third straight year, racking up a record total of 43,519 points out of a possible 60,000.

Patrick Henry High in San Diego was runner-up with 42,230 points and Fallbrook High in North County placed third with 41,320 points.

The all-day academic event took place last Saturday, and the winners were announced this week at a banquet for members of all the 46 county teams that participated in the sixth annual competition.

Torrey Pines will now compete in the statewide contest March 12 in Bakersfield. Last year, the school finished third in the state.

In the county competition, schools send a nine-member team which must include students with varied backgrounds. Three students must have “A” averages, three must have “B” averages, and three must have overall “C” averages in order to ensure that the competition is balanced. Judging is done by volunteers selected by the San Diego County Office of Education.

The teams compete in multiple-choice tests in economic, fine arts, grammar and literature, mathematics, science and history. They also submit written essays, make prepared and impromptu speeches, and face an oral interview. Parents and friends provide an enthusiastic audience for the final Super Quiz portion which pits the teams against each other to measure quick recall. All Super Quiz questions this year centered on the history of the American presidency.

In the Super Quiz, Patrick Henry took top honors, followed by Gompers Secondary School in Southeast San Diego and Fallbrook. Torrey Pines took first in fine arts, literature, mathematics, science, history, economics and in the essay competition. Fallbrook scored highest in the interviews and Santana High in Santee won the speech portion.

The top overall student was Richard Graves, a senior from Torrey Pines. Niles Pierce of Fallbrook and Derren Barken of Patrick Henry scored highest among “A” average students. Natania Meeker from Torrey Pines was first among “B” student scholars and Adam Vaughn headed the “C” average individual competition.

Rounding out the top 10 schools in order of finish were: El Capitan, Mt. Carmel, Helix, Valhalla, Gompers, Granite Hills and Orange Glen.