N. Hollywood Places 2nd in Science

The North Hollywood High School Science Bowl team’s bid to win the school’s first national championship fell short Monday when the five-member squad lost in the championship round.

But the team members--who all along had described the competition as intense--said the runner-up finish was a great accomplishment, given that 1,600 high schools and 8,000 students vied just to get to the national tournament in Washington, D.C.

“There’s nothing to be disappointed about,” team member Emily Kuwahara said. “We were just happy to be here and participate with all these wonderful science teams.”

North Hollywood had entered Monday’s competition as one of only four teams--out of 12 finalists--without a loss in the double-elimination finals tournament that began Sunday night.

During the final-round action, North Hollywood scored two quick victories, including one over Arcadia High School--the only other Southern California school in the competition--which had also made the elite group of 12 after seven preliminary rounds earlier Sunday.

Monday morning, after victories over schools from Alabama and Maryland, North Hollywood sustained its first loss in the finals tournament to Valley High School of Des Moines.

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Next, North Hollywood again defeated the same Alabama school before facing Valley High once more.

The Des Moines school won again, 172-112.

The North Hollywood team--including Kuwahara, Greg Marsden, Emily Wang, Iris Ahronowitz and Michael Saji--won the right to represent the Los Angeles Unified School District at the competition by winning a city Department of Water and Power-sponsored contest earlier this year.

Arcadia, which was eliminated after its first round Monday, earned its trip to Washington, D.C., by winning another regional competition sponsored by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory for schools outside the LAUSD and in Orange and Riverside counties.

North Hollywood was hoping to bring home the fourth straight national title claimed by a Los Angeles school. Van Nuys High won the Science Bowl in 1995 and Venice claimed crowns in 1996 and 1997.

Following the competition Monday, North Hollywood boosters--much like the team members--expressed no disappointment with the second-place finish.

“To place second is incredible,” said Walter Zeisl, a DWP spokesman. “They’re a great bunch of kids . . . I think we can all learn a lesson in teamwork and relationships.”

“We are darn proud of them,” said North Hollywood Principal John Hyland, who got a call from team captain Marsden with the results. “These youngsters are involved in many activities, not just science.”

The competition--a game-show-style event in which the teams sit on opposite sides of a table holding a buzzer--required more than just knowledge of chemistry, biology, trigonometry and astronomy, among other subjects.

“It’s all reflex,” Marsden said. “Everybody can get the answers.”

While in Washington for five days, the team also toured District of Columbia attractions before returning to Los Angeles on Monday night.

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Some school staff--including Hyland--planned to greet the team at Los Angeles International Airport. Hyland said the school would hold an awards ceremony for the team members during the next few days.

And in a way, the Science Bowl was just a warm-up for the Advanced Placement exams that await the college-bound students next week.

“As soon as we get back, we’re going to have to get cracking again,” Marsden said.