Moorpark High School

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.

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.

The nine Moorpark High School team members gripped hands, bowed heads and squeezed their eyes tight as they listened, tensely poised, to the roll call of runner-up schools. Finally, those glorious words: Moorpark High School, the champions of the National High School Academic Decathlon. Instantly, the team and their coach jumped up from their banquet table seats in cheers, embraces and high-fives.

A team from Los Angeles High School eked out a victory Saturday night in an oral competition of the California Academic Decathlon, beating several perennial favorites in the game show-style competition. The Super Quiz contest, which attracted 1,100 enthusiastic fans to UCLA's John Wooden Center, was the final event -- and the only one open to the public -- of the annual, three-day state decathlon.

Decathlon: An article in Tuesday's California section about Moorpark High School's victory in the state Academic Decathlon said Moorpark senior Christie Calle and her brother, Colin, finished first and second, respectively, in the Varsity division and described that category as made up of A students. The Calles' division, Varsity, is for students with a C average. The category for A students is the Honor division.

A U.S. soldier who grew up in Moorpark was killed in Iraq this week when his convoy apparently ran over a land mine, family members said Friday. Chris Hill, 26, who graduated from Moorpark High School, was stationed with the Army in Iraq as lead gunner on a Humvee convoy, said his younger brother, Ryan. Hill was riding in the first unit of the convoy outside Baghdad when the roadside bombing occurred, Ryan Hill said.

For the past three years, Peter Huybers' Academic Decathlon team at Santa Susana High School in Simi Valley has placed second in the county's annual battle of the brains. As 190 Ventura County students on 19 teams prepare for a final local matchup Saturday, Huybers is hoping Santa Susana won't suffer the same fate a fourth time. "I would prefer that I lived in another county where we would come in first," joked Huybers, who has been coaching Academic Decathlon for seven years.

Moorpark High School captured its third consecutive title Sunday as champion of the Ventura County Academic Decathlon, sweeping top honors in all 10 team categories and earning dozens of individual gold medals. The win means the nine-member squad, the national champions in 1999, advances to the three-day state competition in Modesto on March 7. The academic powerhouse has won the 21-year-old county competition seven times and placed first or second at the state level the last five years.

Cheered by 100 hometown fans and an air-horn-blasting Musketeer mascot, Moorpark High School's Academic Decathlon team won the statewide Super Quiz on Saturday, beating out 49 other schools. The victory comes a day before officials will announce the winner of the California Academic Decathlon. Although the Super Quiz involves only 4% of the total decathlon score, the defending state champion's performance gave the team hope that it will win again today.

Cheered by 100 hometown fans and an air-horn-blasting Musketeer mascot, Moorpark High School's Academic Decathlon team won the statewide Super Quiz on Saturday, beating out 49 other schools. The victory comes a day before officials will announce the winner of the California Academic Decathlon. Although the Super Quiz only makes up 4% of the total decathlon score, the defending state champion's performance gave the team hope that it will win again today.