Simi High to Join Moorpark at State Battle of Brains

For the first time in Ventura County history, two local high school teams will be competing in the state Academic Decathlon.

Although Moorpark High School won first place in the county competition Saturday, eight “wild card” schools were invited Wednesday to enter the state scholastic event in March in Pomona.

The wild-card schools were those that scored highest among the statewide runners-up. Simi Valley scored second to Moorpark this year with 44,569 points out of 60,000.

“Everyone is thrilled,” Simi Valley coach Ken Hibbitts said.

“Obviously, we were disappointed not to win. . . . But Moorpark has outstanding students and we were pleased that we came in second. We’ll come in first next year.”

Moorpark won the test of wits with more than 46,000 points this year, a score that unseated Simi Valley High from its first-place spot of 1995 and 1996.

The two schools have been challenging each other since 1993, however, when Moorpark High began a two-year winning streak. In addition to studying, both nine-member teams will spend the next several weeks finding ways to financially support their trip.

Hibbitts estimated that it costs up to $2,000 for each team to spend the weekend at the decathlon.