TAFT CRAFTS DECATHLON REPEAT.

Byline: Lisa M. Sodders Staff Writer

After earning what some think is the highest score in the nation, Taft High School's Academic Decathlon team was tapped late Friday to represent Los Angeles Unified in the state contest for the second consecutive year.

The nine-member team - Zachary Ellington, Michael Farrell, Farhan Khan, David Lopez, David Novgorodsky, Julia Rebrova, Atish Sawant, Dean Schaffer and Monica Schettler - scored 51,516.2 out of a possible 60,000 points.

``We're extremely happy to be here,'' Schaffer said. ``It was a lot of hard work.''

Taft coach Art Berchin savored the win, but said much work remained ahead for his team.

``It's a nice moment,'' Berchin said. ``But it's just a moment.''

More than 1,200 people, including 540 decathletes, donned elegant dresses and suits to attend the district's awards banquet at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Taft and eight wild-card teams from the LAUSD will compete next month at the state Academic Decathlon in Los Angeles. The winner of that contest will go on to the national championship in April in San Antonio, Texas.

California has won 12 of 24 national championships, with eight of those won by LAUSD schools. Taft, located in Woodland Hills, won the national championship in 1988 and 1993.

Schaffer had the highest individual student score for the second year running, with 9,121.4 out of a possible 10,000 points.

Four-time national champion El Camino Real High School, also of Woodland Hills, came in second in the district, with 49,448.9 points. Last year, El Camino also placed second to Taft, but pulled ahead to win the state and national titles.

The high scores by Taft and El Camino set up a showdown at state with two-time national champion Moorpark High, which won Ventura County's competition with a score of 49,280.

The LAUSD's other wild-card teams include Granada Hills Charter, Los Angeles, Marshall, Garfield, North Hollywood, Reseda and Palisades Charter high schools.

The Academic Decathlon consists of multiple-choice tests in art, economics, language and literature, mathematics, music and science, plus the Super Quiz oral relay and written contests, as well as interview, speech and essay competitions.

North Hollywood High School's Altair Maine and former Palisades Charter school's Karyn Newbill also were honored as coaches of the year.

Although teams can compete with as few as six students, they typically are made up of nine students: three honor students, with grade point averages of 3.75 to 4.00; three scholastic students, with GPAs of 3.00 to 3.74; and three varsity students, with GPAs of up to 2.99.

Lisa M. Sodders, [phone]

lisa.sodders(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Taft High School students cheer Friday as they realize they have won first place in the LAUSD's Academic Decathlon.

(2) High-scorer Dean Schaffer holds team and individual trophies.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer