Woodland Hills Team Retains Decathlon Title

The Wunderkinder of El Camino Real High School proved Sunday they are a true perennial power of the California Academic Decathlon, outscoring teams from 42 other schools to win the state championship for the second year in a row.

The victory means that El Camino, of Woodland Hills, will compete in the national Academic Decathlon in Utah next month. The school’s team placed second in the nationals last year.

The nine students edged out a fierce squad from Orange County for the state title, claiming 31 individual medals before their team was announced as the winner of the competition.

“We were so worried,” said a happy but exhausted Steve Chae, a junior. “I had no idea we were going to win. I’m still kind of speechless about it.”

For a while, the race for first place was a tossup between El Camino, Orange County’s Trabuco Hills High and Edison High School of Fresno County. Each of the teams received high points in the public portion of the Super Quiz, and they all claimed numerous medals during the awards banquet.

“It was such a hard event,” said Adi Zarchi, a member of the El Camino team. “It was just right up to the wire.”

El Camino garnered 49,501 points out of a possible 60,000 in the two-day tournament, outscoring Trabuco Hills, which racked up 46,315 points. Edison High School placed third with 46,090 points, Palos Verdes Peninsula High School placed fourth with 44,540, and Simi Valley High was fifth with 43,966.

Also representing Los Angeles County were Alemany High School of Mission Hills, which finished sixth with 43,824 points, and Beverly Hills High, which took eighth place with 43,801 points.

The awards ceremony at the Industry Hills Sheraton in the City of Industry ended the two days of intense competition among 43 high schools from around the state. The students gave speeches, were interviewed and were tested on their knowledge of the geography of Africa, mathematics, fine arts, the writings of Julius Caesar and how light, color and electricity are related to technology.

The competition culminated Saturday with the rowdy and high-stakes Super Quiz, which included a private multiple-choice test and a public contest in which students competed before cheering family members and friends.

El Camino tied Edison High for first place in the Super Quiz. Locked in a three-way tie for second close behind were Alemany High, Trabuco Hills and Simi Valley. Each of those high schools also garnered several medals during the awards ceremony Sunday.

Alemany High’s John Sitro won four individual medals and scored the most points for his team. This was Alemany’s second time competing in the state decathlon.

“I’m happy for myself, but I wish everyone else would get more medals,” said John, a senior who competed in the state decathlon last year. “I had it a little easier maybe because I went through this and I wasn’t as wound up.”

But everyone was wound up during the awards, each student on the edge of his or her seat, trying to calculate points in their heads and anxiously awaiting the moment of truth.

El Camino was considered a strong contender going into the state decathlon because of the team’s high scores in past competitions. The school won the state event in 1996 and 1992. But the past provided little consolation as this year’s team awaited its fate.

The team members looked solemn for much of the 90-minute ceremony, holding their heads in their hands, nibbling at their nails and avoiding eye contact. Even as the team steadily collected medals, the students and their coaches were hesitant to declare victory.

“We’re confident about how we’d done on the tests, but we’re not sure how other schools have done, so at this point we’re still pretty nervous because other teams are medaling,” El Camino’s Robert Magee said before the winners were announced.

Robert scored more points that any other individual in the decathlon--8,647--and helped boost his team to No. 1. He and fellow team members Roger Rees and Michael Montgomery swept the awards in the language and literature division, walking away with the bronze, silver and gold medals, respectively. After receiving their medals on stage, the trio donned dark glasses and struck a Blues Brothers pose as the audience erupted in cheers.

“We’ve proven that we’ve got a strong team,” Michael Montgomery said. “Now we’ve got to be even stronger for the nationals, because I hear Texas has a tough team.

“The competition never ends.”