N. HOLLYWOOD WINS ANOTHER HIGH SCHOOL DEFEATS RIVAL IN DOUBLE OVERTIME TO CLINCH SIXTH VICTORY.

Byline: Lisa M. Sodders Staff Writer

North Hollywood High School's A Team won the 11th annual Science Bowl for an unprecedented sixth time Saturday, defeating rival Venice High School's A Team in a tight final match that went into two overtimes.

``I'm going to see my cardiologist right after,'' said an exuberant and exhausted Len Soloff, coach of the Hollywood High team. ``This was absolutely wonderful.''

``A lot of credit goes to Venice and (Coach) Richard Erdman,'' Soloff added. ``He always makes it interesting.''

North Hollywood's A team - Allie Yen, 16, Northridge; Nick Zheng, 17, Los Angeles; Edward Marti, 18, Studio City; Stephen Yao, 16, Northridge; and Zahra Yazdani, 17, North Hollywood - will travel to Washington, D.C., May 1-5 to compete in the National Science Bowl.

Last year, the team placed sixth in national competition. The grand prize this year is a trip to Sydney, Australia, or London to attend international science schools.

Erdman was philosophical about his team's whisker-thin loss: ``The amount of knowledge they get from this event goes into college.''

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power's competition at the DWP's headquarters downtown included 42 teams from 25 public and private high schools throughout the city.

The A team from another San Fernando Valley school, Armenian General Benevolence Union Demirdjian High School, a private Armenian high school in Canoga Park, placed third, behind Venice's A team. Demirdjian placed third two years ago.

North Hollywood's B Team also had a good run Saturday, going into triple overtime in the ninth of 14 rounds with Venice A before finally being eliminated by the Venice A Team again in the 11th round. B Team members are Tayna Marton, 16, Encino; Jensen Law, 15, Northridge; Sarah Moy, 16, Los Angeles; Robby McIntosh, 17, Los Angeles; and Paul Kim, 17, Tarzana.

The bowl featured fast-paced, game show-style competition in which students fielded questions on physics, calculus, astronomy and other math and science topics. Subjects included everything from simple earth science questions such as naming the one color sapphires don't come in - red - to complicated math problems and chemical formulas the students had to work out in a matter of seconds.

``It just makes us feel good to be a part of this,'' said Bill Glauz, one of the moderators and a DWP employee. ``These kids have worked so hard and done so well. They really know their science - they know more than just the basic trivia. They can calculate and reason things out.''

``What they really need is a history bowl and a literature bowl,'' Erdman said. ``Everybody says the bright kids will take care of themselves, but the bright kids need challenges. They won't go as far as they can without something to compare themselves to.''

North Hollywood's success follows four national titles previously won by regional championship teams. Van Nuys High School captured the first title by a Los Angeles school in 1995, followed by Venice High School in 1996 and 1997, and then North Hollywood's 2001 team.

No other school district, city, region or state has won more than two national titles, said DWP officials.

The North Hollywood A team members each received the $1,000 Hitachi Scholarship; the school gets a trophy and $2,000 toward the purchase of science equipment or materials. Additional prizes for second- through fourth-place teams ranged from $1,250 to $1,750 in equipment or materials for the schools.