STUDENT BRAINSTORM; ACADEMIC DECATHLON BRINGS KIDS TOGETHER FOR SHOWDOWN.

Byline: Sylvia L. Oliande Daily News Staff Writer

A whirlwind of activity blew into the quiet cafeteria at Oxnard High School Saturday morning as members of the various Academic Decathlon teams from throughout the county took their first break from competition.

In between bites of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, members of the Moorpark High School team lamented the tough questions found in the math quiz and wondered how that would affect their shot at a repeat of their championship win.

``Forget it, it's done,'' Moorpark co-coach Larry Jones told the group. ``It's music, economics, economics, music.''

With that, the students went to work reading their study guides in preparation for the next two written exams on the schedule, as co-coach Michelle Bergman gave pep talks.

Meanwhile, across the room, Simi Valley High School team members were also shaking their heads about the hard questions on the math test, while they snacked on the goodies their coaches had brought for them.

But Simi High's team, coached by Ken Hibbitts and his wife, Sally, a teacher, was confident they'd do well.

``We're excited,'' said team captain Johnny Young. ``Today is the culmination of all that we've being working for the past eight months. It's all coming down to this one point. I think I'll do well, and I think the team is ready.''

It came down to this competition for a total of 13 schools throughout the county - also including teams from Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park, Santa Susana and Westlake high schools.

``I don't think my team comes down here to win, necessarily,'' said Newbury Park coach Chris Thompson. ``They like finding out new things, studying and learning. They're excited to put that knowledge to work.''

The team with seemingly the most at stake on Saturday was Moorpark. The school took top honors in the county competition last year and advanced to the state competition where it took second place to a team from El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills.

Wearing the parsley corsages their school librarian makes for them each year - ``It's brain food,'' one student said - the Moorpark teams said they were taking the whole thing in stride.

``When I feel the pressure, I just study more and try to do the best I can,'' said Moorpark team member John Ellis. ``There's nothing else you can do. Except maybe eat your parsley.''

Winning teams in the county competitions taking place this month throughout California will go on to the state competition in March. Going along with them will be the seven high-scoring teams behind the county winners - excluding second teams from winning schools - as wild card entries.

The winner of the competition was expected to be announced at a dinner Saturday night.

The county teams first met in competition last month for the essay, speech and interview portions of the decathlon. Saturday morning's portion included written exams in math, music, language and literature, economics, and social studies.

The competition was scheduled to culminate with the Super Quiz in the afternoon, the only part of the competition open to the public. It's a chance, most students said, to show their parents and the community the result of their countless hours spent studying and practicing.

Some students said that while it is often the most fun of the Academic Decathlon events, the Super Quiz also can be the most nerve-racking.

``I'm a little nervous about the Quiz,'' said Simi Valley team member Erika Supetran. ``People can see you. It's all so public, you can't afford to make a mistake. But by then, it's almost over.''

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

PHOTO (1 -- color) Katie Mercurio, left, and Heidi Neilson of Simi Valley High School study Saturday before competing in the final part of this year's Academic Decathlon.

(2 -- color) Moorpark High coach Larry Jones encourages Arturo Barragan at Oxnard High School.

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News