NOHO HIGH TEAM SHUT OUT OF SCIENCE BOWL.

Byline: Staff and Wire Services

North Hollywood High School was eliminated Monday from the national Science Bowl in Washington, D.C., in a disputed ruling over a question about the formula of an alcohol compound.

Len Soloff, who teaches advance placement biology and chemistry at North Hollywood High and coaches the science team, said in a telephone interview that he registered a protest, arguing that the way the team presented the response was accurate, but it was not the answer the judges were looking for.

The question dealt with the molecular formula for cyclohexanol, which North Hollywood gave as C6 H12 O. The judges were looking for the response C6 H11 OH, which Soloff argued was essentially same formula.

Walter Zeisl, spokesman for Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, which sponsored the regional science bowl, said the ruling by the judges is final. And despite being eliminated from the finals, the students will still receive $1,000 for being in the top 18 teams in the nation.

``Sometimes in a competition, you have rulings go for you and against you. They did their best, and we are proud of them,'' Zeisl said.

Woodinville High School, which is in the Seattle area, went on to win the title.

North Hollywood High has competed in the nationals for the past six years. It won the championship in 2001 and placed second in 1997 and 1998.

The North Hollywood High students are Edward Marti, 18, of Studio City; Allie Yen, 16, of Northridge; Nick Zheng, 17, of Los Angeles; Stephen Yao, 16, of Northridge; and Zahra Yazdani, 17 of North Hollywood.

Sixty-six teams made it to the national competition in the Science Bowl in Washington, the largest field in the history of the program that began in 1991.