Cathedral Chapel School in Los Angeles is a power in the Catholic Academic Decathlon

When the state Catholic Schools Junior High Academic Decathlon begins today in Chula Vista, a small mid-city school will be representing the Los Angeles Archdiocese for the third time, having beaten more than 100 other parochial schools to get there.

Cathedral Chapel School represented the archdiocese in the state competition in 2002 and 2005, winning the state title in 2002 and earning a reputation as the tough little school that nobody had heard of.

Though the Catholic competition may not have the name recognition of its public high school counterpart, the members of Cathedral's Academic Decathlon team are about the biggest guns on campus and the pride of the neighborhood.

At a pep rally this week, the elementary school's 285 students whooped and hollered for two hours in a frenzied buildup to the team's departure.

The Cathedral decathletes, mostly the sons and daughters of working-class immigrants, are more than just academic heroes. Scores of families are attracted to the school because they view the decathlon team's success as a reflection of the campus' overall academic excellence.

As other parochial schools face severe financial strains and even closure because of declining enrollment, Cathedral is financially stable and its enrollment has increased.

"Our history of winning the Academic Decathlon has had a huge influence in having families send their kids to our school and has been a huge factor in the school's success," said Cathedral Principal Tina K. Kipp.

That the school and its decathlon team also reflect the vibrant diversity of its Miracle Mile neighborhood with a mix of Korean, African American, Latino, Filipino and other ethnic and religious groups has only enhanced its appeal, Kipp said.

This year's state competition will pit Cathedral against eight other schools in two team efforts -- a Logic Quiz and Super Quiz -- as well as events testing individual team members' knowledge of English, science, math, current events and special topics that this year include the Beatles, Abraham Lincoln, "The Chronicles of Narnia" and volcanoes.

There will be some tough competition, including Dana Point's St. Edward the Confessor Parish School, but just getting through the Los Angeles division (Cathedral squeaked past St. Robert Bellarmine of Burbank by five points) is perhaps the biggest trial, said head coach Barbara Moldavon, who teaches language arts at Cathedral.