Academic Decathlon

North Hollywood High School won the Super Quiz segment of the state Academic Decathlon on Sunday, answering 58 questions correctly out of a possible 60. The theme of the multiple-choice competition was the Civil War, and questions ranged from the main objective of Gen. William Sherman's march to Gen. Thomas Jackson's nickname. The Super Quiz was the last of 10 events held over the weekend. All seven Los Angeles Unified teams finished in the top 15 in the Super Quiz, the best-known component of the decathlon.

Moorpark High School is on spring break. The campus is quiet, the classrooms locked and the athletic fields still. But Room M4 is abuzz as nine students spend nearly every waking minute studying the art of Latin America, revisiting arcane economic theory and perfecting speeches. They are the team-to-beat Academic Decathlon whizzes who defeated every other competitor in the state earlier this year and will leave for Memphis on Monday to represent California in the national contest.

Larry Jones built Moorpark High School's Academic Decathlon team into a powerhouse, led the squad to four national championships, met presidents in the Oval Office and had a profound effect on the lives of countless students. After nearly two decades, he is stepping down as coach of the team he created, prompted by fatigue and a desire to spend more time with his family. "It's been a great run," said Jones, 60. "I don't have it in me to not do the best I can.

It was the day of the brainiac. Across California, nearly 10,000 students -- pencils in hand, minds reeling after hours of study -- battled in a series of academic contests Saturday that, unlike previous years, all landed on the same date. More than 100 high schools faced off in two regional decathlons at USC and UCLA, while 25 more competed in a science bowl at Caltech. And in a low-slung county district office in East L.A.

Moorpark High School took academic gold here Saturday, surpassing every other team in the country in a grueling battery of tests, essays, quizzes, interviews and speeches to win the national Academic Decathlon championship. Moorpark's fourth national championship further cemented California's dominance in Academic Decathlon -- it's the state's seventh national title in a row, and its 16th since the competition began in 1982.

Over the years, Dorsey and Crenshaw High Schools -- two athletic powerhouses known for waging historic battles in basketball, football and track and field -- have enjoyed one of the most intense neighborhood rivalries in the nation. But while the Dorsey Dons and Crenshaw Cougars routinely attract large crowds and widespread attention in sports, they usually don't generate the same level of excitement when it comes to events like the Academic Decathlon.

North Hollywood and El Camino Real high schools tied for first place Saturday in the Super Quiz portion of the local Academic Decathlon, each scoring 56 out of a possible 60 points in the grueling contest. The two schools, perennial powerhouses in the prestigious competition, were among 64 entered in the L.A. Unified School District's Super Quiz event, which was held at UCLA. El Camino, in Woodland Hills, is the reigning national champ in the Academic Decathlon.

Palisades Charter High School won the Los Angeles school district's Academic Decathlon competition Tuesday night. That means almost another month of studying for the nine-member team before the state competition in March. "It's a really dedicated, disciplined group," said Chris Lee, one of the team's co-coaches. Lee graduated from Palisades Charter in 1990, the last time the Pacific Palisades school won the local competition.

In victory and in defeat, the Academic Decathlon brings out the inner warrior in almost all of its nearly 500 competitors. Moorpark High School, which captured the state title here Monday, was no exception. "I beat my brother by 16 points," said Moorpark senior Christie Calle, who compiled the most points in the Varsity division made up of A students. Her brother, Colin, placed second in that group.

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 out 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.