VALLEY TEAMS ARE TOPS TRIO TAKES ACADEMIC DECATHLON'S SUPER QUIZ.Byline: EUGENE TONG and SUSAN ABRAM Staff Writers Three San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. high schools took top honors Saturday in the Super Quiz of Los Angeles Unified School District's annual academic decathlon decathlon (dĭkăth`lŏn), in modern Olympic games, a contest for men held over two days and composed of 10 track-and-field events. . With more than 500 students representing 62 school teams, North Hollywood High School North Hollywood High School, originally called Lankershim High School when it opened in 1927, is a secondary school in North Hollywood in Los Angeles, California. The school mascot is the husky, and the school colors are blue, white, grey. and Granada Hills Charter High School tied for first place in the Super Quiz Competition Relay. El Camino Real High School El Camino Real High School (also known locally as "ECR" and by some more recently as "ELCO") is a public secondary school located in the Woodland Hills district of the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California. came in second as nearly 1,000 people filled the Wooden Center on the University of California, Los Angeles UCLA comprises the College of Letters and Science (the primary undergraduate college), seven professional schools, and five professional Health Science schools. Since 2001, UCLA has enrolled over 33,000 total students, and that number is steadily rising. , campus to noisily cheer on the students. This year, North Hollywood's team had a new coach, Jim Hatem, who previously had led Los Angeles High School Los Angeles High School, founded in 1873, is the oldest public high school in the Southern California Region and in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Its colors are blue and white and the teams are called the Romans. to eight straight victories in the Super Quiz. Hatem attributed the team's success to the right mix of students. ``It's basically the chemistry,'' he said. ``If you have a good chemistry, then you have a shot at winning.'' Zak Koretz, 17, a North Hollywood squad member, said the key is a balanced team. ``You can easily find good `A' students, but it's difficult to find students who don't get straight `A's' but are willing to put in the effort,'' Koretz said. It was also Granada Hills' first win in the event, which coach Nicholas Weber attributed to the return of four veteran squad members. ``It's really more of a psychological endeavor,'' Weber said. ``Most of them know the study material, but because you have to answer the question with the crowd cheering around you, it adds to the mental strain.'' Members of the Granada Hills team credited their success to caffeinated energy drinks and a special camaraderie. ``We have a cheer,'' said Dustin McKenzie, 17, the only boy on the Granada Hills team. ``I kind of give the opening shout because I'm the only guy and the rest of the girls scream out `Granada!' It pumps you up.'' Los Angeles High School and Dorsey High School tied for third place. Results were still being finalized late last night. The oral portion of the Super Quiz accounts for less than 10 percent of the total scores. The overall winner of the LAUSD's regional competition won't be announced until the district's awards dinner Tuesday. Last year, after earning one of the highest scores in the nation, Taft High School's team was tapped to represent Los Angeles Unified in the state contest for the second consecutive year. The school went on to win both the state and national decathlon, clinching its third national championship and the fourth championship in six years for a San Fernando Valley high school. The 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. Los Angeles County officials announced Saturday that two high schools tied in the Super Quiz portion of the decathlon. Both El Rancho High School El Rancho High School is a public school located in the city of Pico Rivera, California, United States. It is apart of the El Rancho Unified School District. The mascot is the Don. and West High School tied for first with 47 points out of a maximum of 60, officials said. Winners of the various regional competitions will go on to the California Academic Decathlon March 15-18 in Los Angeles. The state champion will compete at the U.S. Academic Decathlon April 25-28 in Honolulu. California has won more than half of the national championships, with nine of those won by LAUSD LAUSD Los Angeles Unified School District (Los Angeles, CA) schools: Marshall High School Marshall High School may refer to:
eugene.tong(at)dailynews.com (818) 546-3304 CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Fans cheer on competitors during the LAUSD 2007 Academic Decathlon Super Quiz Competition Relay at UCLA's John Wooden Center in Westwood on Saturday. About 550 students represented 62 high school teams in the LAUSD. Alex Collins/Special to the Daily News |
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