Taft Bests 45 State Schools in Super Quiz : Education: The Woodland Hills team gets 27 of 30 questions right in a contest that often portends the outcome of the Academic Decathlon.

Taft High School in Woodland Hills--narrowly edging out University High School from the Westside--emerged Saturday as the unofficial winner of the Super Quiz, a high-pressure, “College Bowl”-type event in the Academic Decathlon that often anticipates the overall winner of the state contest.

The Taft team racked up 27 of 30 possible answers in the Super Quiz, best among 46 schools from across the state participating in this weekend’s California Academic Decathlon.

Four schools tied for second with 26 correct answers, including University High and perennial decathlon powerhouses West High School of Torrance and Laguna Hills High School.

“It’s anybody’s match now,” Taft coach Michael Wilson said after his team’s narrow victory, eked out before more than 1,000 cheering spectators at the University of the Pacific campus. “We’re all very close to the top.”

“I can’t predict the outcome” of the decathlon, agreed John Reece, who coaches the University crew.

Decathlon results will be announced today at an awards luncheon, with the winner advancing to the national contest.

For the first time in the 14-year history of the state decathlon, the Los Angeles Unified School District is fielding two teams: Taft--the district champ going for its third state title--and University, which is competing under a new rule allowing a wild card entry.

The decathlon tests students in six subjects and includes speech, essay and interview portions.

But the Super Quiz--a raucous affair where parents and administrators engage in something resembling primal scream therapy--is a high-stakes event, with each answer worth 200 points.

After each answer was announced Saturday, parents in the stands groaned or cheered, reacting to the body English of the contestants on the arena floor. Some, like Evan Dodge of Taft, gave a thumbs-up sign after acing a question; Kelly Vogt of University pumped both fists over her head.

Evan notched a perfect score of five in the Super Quiz, which asked eclectic questions such as: “Which one of the following characteristics contributes most to the significance of Kenzo Tange’s Olympic stadiums?” Answer: “Combination of traditional and modern forms.”

“I knew I knew a lot,” Evan said, “but there are questions I know I didn’t know. It’s just the luck of the draw I didn’t get those.”

“The pressure kept building and building,” added 17-year-old Josh Stempel, a Taft teammate who also scored a perfect five.

In addition to Evan and Josh, the Taft team includes Leonard An, David Bronstein, Adam Caress, Christopher Hoag, Alexandre Jacobs, Robert Shaw and Mara Weiss.

Besides Kelly, the University squad includes Anshul Amar, Samidha Ghosh, Sami Kohan, Mark Landsberg, Tai-Yong Park, Rebecca Shoai, Toby Woods and Zanja Yudell.

The Super Quiz score represents the combined tally of the top two performers in each grade category. The event is an informal--though not foolproof--indicator of the overall decathlon outcome, because the Super Quiz winner often goes on to sweep the championship.