Torrance’s West High wins local Academic Decathlon

For the third consecutive year, Torrance’s West High School won Los Angeles County’s Academic Decathlon and will be one of two schools representing the county to compete in the state championship.

West High School scored 44,752 points out of 60,000 possible, according to results announced at an awards banquet at the Quiet Cannon Country Club in Montebello on Thursday. Mark Keppel High School of Alhambra, which garnered 43,934 points, finished second and qualified for the state championship because of its score.

Arcadia High School finished third with 40,203 points.

The Academic Decathlon is a vigorous competition that tests students’ knowledge in a wide breadth of subjects such as literature, science and art.

Teams consist of up to nine students, and, though regional competitions often aren’t held until January or February, students begin preparing over the summer or even the previous spring.

West High School coach Ann Cortina, a biology teacher, said she felt “relief and happiness” when the results were announced. Her students crammed for close to 40 hours a week in the months leading up to the competition, even hitting the books on Christmas.

Team member and high school senior Rita Chudnovsky, 16, quipped that if her team hadn’t won, “I would have 35 hours to kill each week.”

“Yesterday, I got to go home before it was dark outside,” said Chudnovsky, who was the highest individual scorer on the team with 8,298 points out of 10,000 possible. “It was weird.”

Cortina gave all the credit for the victory to the students. “I learned how to photocopy and how to organize materials,” she laughed. “I have perfected those two skills.”

Each region holds its own competition to determine which teams will go to the state championship. The winner of each region automatically qualifies. Teams with high point totals can also earn a spot.

Granada Hills Charter High School will lead a group of eight Los Angeles Unified School District teams to the state championship, to be held March 16-18 in Los Angeles. Granada Hills scored 49,775 points.

Members of the county teams know they face stiff competition from L.A. Unified, a perennial decathlon powerhouse. L.A. Unified schools have won the national championship for three years running.

“We know we’re about 5,000 points behind” Granada Hills, Chudnovsky said. “But we could probably win state if we put in enough work. I feel pretty good.”

*

charles.proctor@latimes.com