El Camino Wins State Academic Decathlon

A jubilant team of students from El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills edged out its rivals from Orange County on Sunday to win the California Academic Decathlon and gain a berth in next month’s national competition in Atlanta.

The Woodland Hills whiz kids relished the victory after a tension-filled awards ceremony during which they claimed 40 individual medals before their team was declared the overall winner.

“What can you say?” El Camino coach David Roberson said moments after his team was declared No. 1. “The California competition was tough, but these kids were great.

“We’re going to Atlanta,” he beamed.

El Camino, representing the Los Angeles Unified School District, also captured the state title in 1992.

Forty-two teams from across the state competed this year.

El Camino racked up 49,239 points of a possible 60,000 in the weekend contest, narrowly beating Orange County’s Laguna Hills High School, which chalked up 48,419 points. Beverly Hills High School placed third with 45,479, Simi Valley High School was fifth with 44,112 and Alemany High School in Mission Hills captured ninth place with 42,278.

Beverly Hills student Eyal Kimchi took top honors for scoring the single most points in the event, 8,602.

The awards ceremony capped two days of intense competition during which students wrote essays, gave speeches and were tested on topics ranging from economics to fine arts. The competition culminated Saturday in the Super Quiz, made up of a multiple choice test and a rowdy contest similar to a TV game show in which students competed before cheering friends and family.

Laguna Hills was declared the winner of the game show portion of the Super Quiz, which set the El Camino team’s nerves on edge because whoever wins the Super Quiz often goes on to sweep the entire contest.

But not this year.

“I’m shaking, it’s just so exciting,” said El Camino team member Arabella David after her team was declared champion. “There was a lot of stress and doubt. . . . We just didn’t know if Laguna Hills was going to beat us or not.”

“I just can’t believe it,” said an emotional Eldar Brodski, a senior, as he and his El Camino teammates were named state champions. “I was praying and praying and I guess it paid off.”

Working with two dedicated coaches and studying for seven hours each day after school and on the weekends probably had something to do with it too. “The kids definitely earned this,” co-coach Sharon Markenson said.

El Camino was viewed as a strong contender going into the event because of its high scores during an LAUSD competition last November. The winner of the local contest had won the state title for the last four years.

By comparison, Alemany, a Catholic institution that won the private school decathlon in November, was considered an underdog. It was the first time the Mission Hills team had advanced to the state contest.

“We came up here with one basic goal and that was for the kids to experience the state competition,” said Alemany coach Bill Bradish, whose team collected six individual medals. “Certainly we did not expect to win, so I was utterly surprised when our name was announced.”

Tension began building before the winner was announced Sunday morning when the rival El Camino and Laguna Hills teams were seated out of sight of one another at the awards ceremony, which was held in a large hotel ballroom. The Woodland Hills team passed the time during a seemingly endless procession of speeches by fidgeting at the banquet table.

El Camino’s Isis Okowita mangled several tiny round jam containers, while Jenny Stefanotty entertained Sarah Sabolek by quickly shuffling three other containers to see whether Sarah could pick out the strawberry one.

Team captain Dale Shuger clutched “Sola,” a stuffed raccoon her teammates gave her after her dog died shortly before the district competition. And Justin Weaver held a good-luck stick he said he found a couple of weeks ago while studying on the school roof.

But once the award medals began to flow, good news was delivered swiftly to El Camino. They dominated the economics category by winning a bronze and three gold medals.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like this,” said Mario Machado, the banquet emcee.

The awards continued to pour in for El Camino. Toward the end of the ceremony the team members were so heavily draped with medals that a sound resembling jingle bells broke out each time someone got up to accept another award.

But it was the wait for the final announcement that nearly sent the students over the edge. The nine-member team nervously grasped each other’s hands as the second place winner was about to be announced.

When Laguna Hills’ name was called out, the El Camino students went wild, knowing at that point that they had won. The realization brought Sabolek to tears as she and her teammates screamed and hugged one another. Within seconds the students were engulfed by family, friends and news photographers.

After collecting their awards, the winning team walked onto the stage where the Laguna Hills team was lined up, having already accepted its second place trophy.

“I’m a little disappointed,” said Laguna Hills’ Khanh Gui, who appeared shaken after she left the stage. “We worked really hard, but El Camino put on a great fight. They were awesome.”