El Camino Real wins state Academic Decathlon
Hugs were shared, high-fives were dealt and hearts were broken.
A year of stringent studying came down to this: El Camino Real High School beat out 61 other teams Monday to win the California Academic Decathlon.
FOR THE RECORD:
Academic Decathlon: A caption in some editions of Tuesday’s Section A that accompanied a photo of two El Camino Real High School students celebrating their team’s victory in the California Academic Decathlon misspelled Daniel de Haas’ last name as de Hass. —
The Woodland Hills team, which has won five national championships, clinched the state title during grueling testing Saturday and Sunday in Sacramento. Winners were announced during a three-hour ceremony Monday afternoon; El Camino had a score of 50,590 out of 60,000 points. The team will go on to represent California in the national competition in Omaha, Neb., April 21 to 24.
For the first time, the Los Angeles Unified School District snagged the top three spots in the state competition, which tests students’ knowledge in 10 areas including language and literature, music and art.
Marshall High School placed second in the overall competition with 50,029 points and Granada Hills Charter placed third with 49,120.
“I’m so thrilled,” said Cliff Ker, the coordinator for L.A. Unified’s Academic Decathlon program.
Daniel de Haas, El Camino’s top scorer with 8,774 points, said he has “never been happier.”
And now, the 17-year-old said, the studying continues until “we drop or win nationals.”
The only event open to the public, the Super Quiz, was held Sunday; Marshall won that event.
At the awards ceremony, members of the Marshall team held their heads low. One member cried into her knees as her chest heaved up and down.
Larry Welch, Marshall’s coach, shook his head when El Camino was announced as the winner.
“They have an amazing program that is second to none,” he said.
The El Camino team members laughed and cheered on stage as they held a sky-blue flag and posed for pictures. The school is tied with J.J. Pearce High School in Richardson, Texas, for the most national titles.
Stephanie Franklin, a co-coach for El Camino, said the team’s constant success stems from their attempts to each receive the same high scores, rather than competing against one another.
Daniel Moreh, 17, said he’ll be working on the subjects in which he didn’t receive a medal. But standing on stage with a wide grin, he said he felt “unbelievable.”
Franklin High School, which made its first appearance at the state championship, placed 27th with a score of 40,846.
Andy Vuong, 16, said he’s getting ready to come back next year, particularly after meeting the top teams and scorers. He left inspired.
“I wanna be that someday,” he said.
Two other Los Angeles County schools placed in the top 10: West High School in Torrance, which placed sixth, and Mark Keppel High School in Alhambra, which placed ninth.
El Camino Real won the national championship in 2007, 2005, 2004, 2001 and 1998.
Members of this year’s winning team include Vivian Cheng, Daniel de Haas, Evan Edmisten, Andrew Fann, Audrey Goldbaum, Jessica Lin, Daniel Moreh, Adriana Ureche and Michael Walker. The coaches are John Dalsass and Stephanie Franklin.
For some parents, this intellectual Olympics was just as emotional for them as for their children.
Nancy Moreh, of Woodland Hills, stood to the side of the stage, tears streaming down her face, shouting, “Oh my God, oh my God.” She even forgot to take a photo of her son when he walked on stage with the top team in the state.
nicole.santacruz @latimes.com
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
