Once Again, West High School Is the Class of the Competition : Education: Months of preparation help put the team on top for the third consecutive time in the Academic Decathlon.

The banquet room, filled with friends and family of the 67 county academic decathlon teams, was abuzz with anticipation in the moments before the new county champion was announced.

At a table in front of the stage, the nine-member team from West High School in Torrance sat quietly, their jaws clenched. Their coach, George Floratos, nervously wiped his palms with a cloth napkin while a parent seated behind him crossed her fingers on both hands.

But when the announcer said, “the second place winner in the Los Angeles County Academic Decathlon goes to William S. Hart High School,” emotions at the West High table exploded. Their stiffest competition had left the coveted champion’s title for West High.

Team members hugged. Parents jumped and screamed. The crowd at the Quiet Canyon Country Club cheered. For the third consecutive year, West High was best in the county, topping 66 other teams in the county decathlon Nov. 14 at Gardena High School.

“We weren’t sure we’d win,” said 17-year-old team member Brian Mahanay. “We were worried about a dark horse. We were a dark horse three years ago.”

It was not until the West High team took the stage that Floratos cracked his first big smile of the evening.

“We knew we’d do well, but we weren’t sure how well,” he said.

As it turned out, West High did more than well. The team claimed a total of 59 medals, 20 more than last year. And the team scored 45,794 points, 3,351 more than their closest competitor, William S. Hart High School of Newhall.

Each decathlon team was divided into three groups of three students--A, B and C teams--roughly corresponding to their academic levels. The 10-event competition was made up of exams in six academic areas as well as essays, speeches, interviews and a game show-style contest called Super Quiz.

The students from West High had been preparing for about eight months by memorizing dates, solving equations, writing essays and practicing speeches in front of mirrors. They had met with Floratos for at least 10 hours a week--five in the classroom and at least five at his home every Tuesday and Thursday evening--to study material from entry-level college economics, biology and calculus classes and take practice tests in fine arts, social studies, language and literature.

And was it worth it?

Six of the top scorers in the county came from West High, and the team swept all three medals in the A category.

Senior team member Nikhil Chanani, his chest adorned with 11 medals, claimed the highest score in the county and won the A-category gold with 8,677 total points. Evan Hurowitz, 16, took the silver medal with 8,174 points, and Jason Todd Lee, a senior, shared the bronze with another student with a score of 7,696.

In the scholastic division or B category, West High senior Edward Chao won the gold with 8,093 points and teammate Shira Franco, a junior, took a silver with 7,917. In the varsity division or C category, senior Jeff Wu accepted a gold for scoring 7,104.

In the speech competition, eight of nine West High students won medals, four of them gold. In every other event, at least two West High students claimed medals.

Wilson High School in Hacienda Heights won the gold in the Super Quiz, while West High tied with Diamond Bar High School for third place.

Next for West High will come the state competition in Stockton on March 12-14.