AMERICA'S WHIZ KIDS TO FACE OFF; 1 RIVAL CALLS EL CAMINO REAL `TEAM TO BEAT'.

Byline: Terrence Petty Associated Press 

They've spent eight months memorizing millions of dry facts, and the same amount of time reassuring their sweethearts they were not being ignored.

Now comes the moment of truth for 342 of America's brainiest teen-agers, who have been cramming since last fall for the U.S. Academic Decathlon.

Which of 38 high schools will win the gold medal in this intellectual Super Bowl?

``California is the team to beat,'' says Eva Gagnon, coach of the Rhode Island team at the two-day contest, which starts on Friday.

The annual Academic Decathlon is considered the most prestigious intellectual competition for high school students in the United States.

High schools reach the national contest by winning their state championships. The defending national champion is James E. Taylor High School of Katy, Texas. They should get a strong challenge from the California team: El Camino Real High School of Woodland Hills, which placed second last year.

Rhode Island appears to have a powerful team as well with nine kids from the Wheeler School, a private school on Providence's affluent east side.

The Wheeler team is worried by scuttlebutt that the California team has been spending 50 hours a week getting ready for the contest.

``That's sick!'' said Luke Ma, a 17-year-old on the Wheeler team. ``They have no life.''

One-third of the decathlon's competitors are each school's top academic performers, but other students also get to compete.

Every team has competitors from three grade categories: A, B and C. Prospective team members are given qualification tests and the top scorers in each category are chosen for the nine-person team.

Many of the B and C students are underachievers who discover they are brighter than they think by scoring well on the qualification tests.

During the decathlon, students take written tests and are orally quizzed on 10 academic areas. They also deliver speeches they've written.

The preparations are grueling.

Students memorize 1,500 pages of facts that are jammed into standardized study guides supplied for the contest, and team coaches usually ask them to absorb more material from other sources.

All of the studying cuts into time for homework and sports, and it can also play havoc with their social lives.

``For a school that takes this as seriously as we do, it's difficult to have heavy extracurricular activity,'' said Mark Johnson, coach for the El Camino team.

One teen on Johnson's team lost her sweetheart, who apparently got fed up with being ignored. But another romance blossomed between two members of the team.

Competitors are an interesting mix. Many participate in sports, if preparing for the decathlon allows time for that.

``Some of our kids could have started on the football team this year but they gave it up,'' Johnson said.

A sizable number of contestants are involved in debating teams, classical music and school plays.

Luke Ma refers to himself as the ``stereotypical Asian math nerd.''

As the Wheeler team was going through one last cramming session Wednesday, 16-year-old Liz Gately suddenly sneezed.

``I have allergies. Now all I need is a pocket protector,'' she joked.

Gagnon was worried that her team had lost some of its edge.

She asked Luke to recite the speech he had written about his experiences as a Chinese native living in the United States.

At a comical point in the speech, Luke is supposed to do the ``Funky Chicken,'' a dance he saw some adults performing when he was a kid new to America.

But Luke realized he'd forgotten parts of the speech.

``Oh no, we're going down,'' Gagnon groaned.

Luke redeemed himself by promptly providing correct answers as the students gave each other rapid-fire questions on trigonometry, opera, nuclear physics and the novel ``Jane Eyre.''

The rest of the team also performed well during the session, and when it was over they left ready for an intellectual rumble.

``I'm psyched!'' exclaimed 17-year-old Anne Michalenka.