Wilson Team Places 3rd in Academic Decathlon

The thrill of tempered victory swept through Wilson High School in the Hacienda La Puente Unified School District this week, as a team of nine students captured third place in the Los Angeles County Academic Decathlon.

Two other San Gabriel Valley teams scored in the top 10 of the competition for the 1991-92 school year. Claremont High was fifth and San Gabriel High School came in 10th out of 69 participating schools.

Wilson, which traditionally fields a strong team, has placed in the winner’s circle for several school years: In 1990-91, it came in second countywide; in 1989-90, it was first, in 1988-89, it was third.

“They had some very, very tough competition,” said Wilson decathlon coach Jim Kelly, who teaches U.S. history, world history and economics. “We prepared just as hard as we did last year, and I knew we would be either second or third.”

The point spread among the top three was not broad. West High School in Torrance came in first with 44,911 points; Hart High in Newhall was second with 44,600, and Wilson was third with 44,010 points.

Wilson team member Ronnie Chow, a 16-year-old senior, was the highest scoring varsity student in the county decathlon with 7,328 points. “I wish we had come in first, of course, but we’re content,” said Wilson senior Clark Jen, 18, who plans to attend UC Berkeley or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “It was definitely worth the time, not only for the competition but for the process of preparing and the friends we made.”