Valley Team Wins Decathlon’s Quiz

Students from El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills, vying for the national academic decathlon championship, beat out 47 teams Saturday to claim top honors in the Super Quiz, a pressure-packed College Bowl-style event.

“I am so relieved,” said Mark Johnson, one of El Camino’s coaches, looking happy but nearly faint after watching his charges rack up 27 correct answers out of 30. “I thought I was going to die.”

The victory was encouraging for his team because the Super Quiz winner has often gone on to sweep the national title.

But neither Johnson nor fellow coach Jeff Craig dared predict the overall outcome of the weekend-long tournament, the results of which will be announced tonight. El Camino, representing California, is considered to be in contention with teams from three states--Arizona, Illinois and Texas.

“It’s completely up in the air,” Craig said.