Bishop Alemany Finishes 3rd in State Decathlon

Bishop Alemany High School in Mission Hills took the highest score among Valley high schools Sunday in the state academic decathlon, placing third in the two-day competition.

The other two top-scoring Valley schools, El Camino Real High in Woodland Hills and Burbank High, placed fourth and 12th, respectively.

Ventura County’s Simi Valley High School took home the state championship, and Moorpark High School, last year’s top winner, finished second.

When they heard their school’s name called over the loudspeaker, the nine students on the Bishop Alemany team cheered and clapped as they headed to the stage during the awards ceremony at the Marriott Hotel at Los Angeles International Airport.

“I did not expect anything,” said Bishop senior Michael Rains, 18, whose school scored 49,026 points out of a possible 60,000. “We were happy to get third.”

Fifty schools and 400 students competed in the contest, which tests students’ knowledge in art, literature, math, music, social sciences and economics, plus essay writing, public speaking and interviewing.

El Camino Real scored 48,855 points, and Burbank High had 44,783 points.

Simi Valley students, who earned 50,032 points, left the Marriott crying, cheering and already planning their mid-April trip to San Antonio, Texas, for the national competition.

Moorpark High finished with 50,011 points.

Valley students said the hard work, long hours and support from their parents paid off. The team from Bishop Alemany, a private school, spent many hours studying after school since last June, said co-coach Janie Prucha.

“They worked so hard for this,” Prucha said. “It was such an exhausting event. They are hungry, sleepy, but most of all they are excited.”

Team members from Los Angeles Unified School District’s El Camino Real High School hugged each other and took photos after the awards ceremony. The school is a four-time state champion and took the national title in 1998.

“We were stunned,” said coach Melinda Owen. “We are new coaches, so we were just glad to have made it this far. We’ll try again next year.”

Some of her students said there were times when they felt like giving up, but they fought to the end.

“At times, we knew the chances of winning [first place] weren’t good,” said senior Burton Newman, 18. “But we still wanted to win.”

Students from Burbank High said they entered the competition expecting to score higher. But at the end of the day, they won something much more valuable, said senior Andrew Chon, 17.

“We are like a family now,” Chon said. “It’s the culmination of two years of practice.”

Burbank coach Valerie Beidelman said she was glad to have made it to the state championships for a second time. The school participated in the state competition two years ago.

“We just keep getting better and better every year,” Beidelman said.

Southland schools swept the rest of the top 10 spots, with Los Angeles High placing fifth, Laguna Hills High in Orange County sixth, Palos Verdes Peninsula High seventh, Beverly Hills High eighth, San Pedro High ninth and Palisades Charter 10th.