A.V. SCHOOLS WIN DECATHLON RECOGNITION.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Daily News Staff Writer

Three Antelope Valley high schools earned top spots in the category of most improved scores in the annual Los Angeles County Academic Decathlon.

Antelope Valley High School took first place with a point gain of 5,850; Lancaster High placed second with a gain of 4,601 points; and Quartz Hill High School was in third with a point gain of 3,574.

``I'm really happy my school did so well. There are a lot of really smart kids that we have this year, and we have a great adviser,'' said Yvonne Gaspar, 17, a junior at Antelope Valley High who was the captain and top scorer for the school's team.

Sixty schools participated in the Feb. 6 competition at Morningside High School in Inglewood. Results were announced late Thursday.

Over all, Antelope Valley High placed 32nd among the top 40 schools with a total score of 29,275. Palmdale High School finished in 36th with 28,333 points, and Quartz Hill High took the 40th spot with a score of 27,640.

Palos Verdes Peninsula High School took first place with 45,500 points.

Other top scorers for the local campuses were Asian Coleman at Highland High, Kim Smit at Lancaster High, Jimmy Pascascio at Littlerock High, Kristine Hutchison at Palmdale High and Sarah Prindle at Quartz Hill High.

Jeannie Miller, the decathlon adviser at Antelope Valley High, credited Yvonne for organizing study material and sessions. The team worked hard to prepare this year, meeting practically every day at lunch.

``I let it be more student-driven this year,'' Miller said. ``When kids do it, you seem to have more ownership of it.''

Paul Swaner, adviser of the Lancaster High team, said the event gives students an opportunity to study more and learn about subjects that interest them.

Swaner said other high schools place a much greater emphasis on the decathlon, offering it as a class rather than an extracurricular activity.