SCIENTIFIC APPROACH; VALLEY TEAM TO LEAVE TODAY FOR MATCH.

Byline: Jesse Hiestand Daily News Staff Writer

After a final day cramming for the National Science Bowl, the North Hollywood High School team is scheduled to leave today to battle 53 other teams in Washington, D.C.

Some might consider this a grudge match, since North Hollywood placed second last year, but the teen-age science whizzes insist they are not obsessed with winning.

``The goal isn't to beat someone else at all, but to do our personal best,'' said 17-year-old team captain Iris Ahronowitz, the first female to lead any Los Angeles-area science team.

The students spent Tuesday quizzing each other, poring over college-level science textbooks and studying questions from past science bowl competitions.

``What keeps us going,'' Ahronowitz said, ``is it is not just work - it is fun.''

Coach Koh Ikeda said the team members - all students in the high school's Highly Gifted Magnet program - have juggled school work, outside interests and intensive science studies since October in order to get a chance at the national championship.

``They've prepared very hard, so no matter what the outcome is, I'm very proud of them,'' said Ikeda, a science teacher. ``We're going up against some of the finest schools in the United States so we can't have any expectations. We must take it one day at a time.''

The other four team members are Alec Bellanca and Paul Lakin, both 17, and Vinly Eng and Nina Han, both 16.

In February, they beat 48 teams from across Los Angeles in the Department of Water and Power Science Bowl. That competition will be broadcast on KLCS (Channel 58) at 11:30 p.m. Friday.

North Hollywood is the only team from the Los Angeles Unified School District headed to this year's National Science Bowl, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. Eight other California teams are going.

Teams representing the city of Los Angeles have the best record of any region or state in the country at the national science competition. Van Nuys High School won in 1995 and Venice High School captured the title in 1996 and 1997, according to DWP spokesman Walter Zeisl.

``We came very close to winning the title last year,'' he said. ``I think they have a good chance of being in the top three this year and possibly bringing the first-place title back to Los Angeles.''

Aside from the prestige of being the best, the winning team also will get an all-expenses-paid two-week trip to Sydney, Australia, in July to attend the International Science School and enjoy a vacation.

The second- and third-place teams receive a one-week field trip at Department of Energy national laboratories.

From Thursday through Saturday, the North Hollywood team is scheduled to tour the nation's capital and visit with congressional representatives.

The competition will begin Sunday and conclude Monday with the announcement of the winning team.

The teams face round after round of multiple choice and short answer questions on topics that can jump from physics to biology to computer science and earth science. The students are also expected to know the answers to obscure science trivia questions, their coach said.

``They've been setting aside a big chunk of their lives preparing for this,'' Ikeda said. ``And to me that's the most important thing, to develop a good work ethic and good relations with each other.''

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

PHOTO (1) Taking part in buzzer practice, from left to right, are team members Vinly Eng, Paul Lakin, Hina Han, Iris Ahronowitz and Alec Bellanca.

(2) Eng hits the buzzer Tuesday.

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Daily News