EL CAMINO ACADEMIC TEAM MAY WIN IT ALL.Byline: Sherry Joe Crosby Daily News Staff Writer El Camino Real High School El Camino Real High School (also known locally as "ECR" and by some more recently as "ELCO") is a public secondary school located in the Woodland Hills district of the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California. battled its way to sixth place Saturday in the public portion of the Super Quiz, the most raucous event of the U.S. Academic Decathlon decathlon (dĭkăth`lŏn), in modern Olympic games, a contest for men held over two days and composed of 10 track-and-field events. . The Woodland Hills team members remained hopeful that they would get first place in the overall decathlon when final results are announced today. The school's eight-student squad correctly answered 36 of 45 questions Saturday, but was unable to stop dark horse Catholic Memorial High School of Wisconsin from surging ahead to win the event. El Camino coach Mark Johnson Mark Johnson may refer to: Academics and scientists
``I'm so proud of them,'' said Johnson, moments after the contest ended at the Community College of Rhode Island The Community College of Rhode Island, commonly abbreviated as "CCRI", is the only community college in Rhode Island. Founded as Rhode Island Junior College, "RIJC", in 1964 with 325 students, today CCRI consists of six campuses and enrolls over 16,000 students across the state. in the Providence suburb of Warwick. ``They had so much pressure on them. They had TV cameras on them. There were some tough questions. I couldn't be prouder.'' Tying for second place were teams from New Mexico New Mexico, state in the SW United States. At its northwestern corner are the so-called Four Corners, where Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah meet at right angles; New Mexico is also bordered by Oklahoma (NE), Texas (E, S), and Mexico (S). , Ohio, Arizona and Texas. A high school from Massachusetts placed third. El Camino still could come out winner of the overall Academic Decathlon when results are announced today during an awards banquet at the Rhode Island Rhode Island, island, United States Rhode Island, island, 15 mi (24 km) long and 5 mi (8 km) wide, S R.I., at the entrance to Narragansett Bay. It is the largest island in the state, with steep cliffs and excellent beaches. Convention Center. Saturday's scores represent only 40 percent of the Super Quiz, which comprises written and oral exams. And the Super Quiz is only one of 10 decathlon events. ``All that matters is the one number, and that comes out tomorrow,'' said Adi Zarchi, 17, referring to the elusive gold medal gold medal traditional first prize. [Western Cult: Misc.] See : Prize the team has been seeking for the past two years. Nationally, the Woodland Hills squad finished second in 1996 and 1997, and fourth in 1991. It has never placed first in the grueling competition, which tests students in six academic disciplines. Students also must write a timed essay, deliver speeches and undergo an interview. This year, the team has managed to do superbly despite the early departure of one member who was unable to keep pace with the 10- to 12-hour study sessions held daily after class. In March, El Camino won the California Academic Decathlon, beating out 49 other schools to garner 51,100 points out of 60,000 - a record for the state competition. ``They're a strong team,'' said Jim Centorino, an El Camino teacher who coached the squad in physics and music, and who flew out to root them on. ``They're hanging right close with only eight team members,'' he said. ``They just have to pull a little bit more weight.'' El Camino senior Steve Chae, 18, who clutched a stuffed red lobster during the fast-paced question-and-answer relay, said the squad's Super Quiz score puts it in a good position to win the decathlon. ``Even though we're missing one person, we still came in sixth,'' Chae said. ``It boosts our confidence. We knew it would be extremely difficult to come (out on) top, and we did really well.'' After the event, the team planned to travel to Newport to see its famed ocean-front mansions. Members also planned a night of bridge, their favorite card game. ``We're not going to sleep tonight,'' promised a gleeful glee·ful adj. Full of jubilant delight; joyful. glee  ful·ly adv.glee Carina Carina (kərē`nə) [Lat.,=the keel], southern constellation, representing the keel of the ancient constellation Argo Navis, or Ship of the Argonauts. Carina contains Canopus, the second brightest star in the sky. Yuen, 17. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO El Camino senior Steve Chae says his team's sixth-place Super Quiz score puts them in a good position for today's competition. Robert Button/Associated Press |
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