Cheers for the Home Team

Perennial powerhouse Wilson High School of Hacienda Heights pulled out a narrow victory in the Super Quiz of the ninth Los Angeles County Academic Decathlon held Saturday at Gahr High School in Cerritos.

Wilson’s last contestant was senior Michelle Ivey, whose father teaches math at La Serna High School in Whittier. Ivey answered all five of her questions correctly on the topic of astronauts and space travel to ice her team’s narrow win over West High School of Torrance.

The Super Quiz, which resembles a raucous game show, is the only public segment of the decathlon, which tests students in 10 subject areas, including science, social studies, writing, public speaking and fine arts.

The team that places first in the overall competition will represent Los Angeles County in the state competition. The victor will be announced next Wednesday at a banquet in Montebello.

But all the teams are winners, said Compton teacher and team coach Nancy Miller. “We’re getting all this positive attention for academics, and it rubs off on other students,” she said.

Contestant Ramiro Medina of Compton said he could barely speak English six years ago. Now he is getting straight As and competing for his school. “The decathlon is important not just because we want to win, but for the experience. It’s helped me to become a well-rounded person,” he said.