Moorpark High School has a dynasty to defend.

This week, the two-time national championship school heads to the 29th annual United States Academic Decathlon in Garden Grove with the highest score in the history of the national competition.

Moorpark is one of 41 teams vying for the 2008 title. The competition starts Wednesday, with the winner to be announced Saturday.

Moorpark teammates, while nervous, are ready to make a great showing.

"We just have to put our best effort forward and hope that's enough for a win," said Justine Levan, team captain.

At the state competition in March, Moorpark earned 52,879 points, the highest score in the decathlon's 40-year history. A perfect score is 60,000.

The team that came closest was from Wisconsin. Waukesha West High School scored 52,111 points at its state competition, 768 points behind Moorpark.

Pearland High School in Texas followed with a score of 50,595. Whitney Young Magnet High School from Chicago came in with 49,735 points, and the school's Isabel Salovaara took home the record for highest individual score nationwide, with 9,300 points. Behind her is Moorpark junior Kris Sankaran, who earned 9,135 points in the honors division.

Last year, El Camino Real High School from Los Angeles won the national title and Whitney Young took second place, followed by Waukesha in third.

California has a tradition of turning out winners in the national event. Southern California schools have won nine national titles in 13 years.

Of the three times that Moorpark was first in the state, it went on to win the national title in 1999 and 2003. Since 1998, the Moorpark team has competed nine times and gone to the state competition every time.

Academic Decathlon teams are tested in 10 academic events. Each team consists of three A students (honors), three B students (scholastic) and three C students (varsity) who take seven multiple-choice tests in subjects such as art, literature, science and math.

They also give speeches, write essays and participate in interviews. The Super Quiz is composed of the oral relay — the only event open to the public — and a multiple-choice written test.

The U.S. Civil War is the topic for the competition this year, and students have committed to memory everything from facts, dates and names of generals to all things Union and Confederate.

Jones a winning coach

This will be Moorpark's fourth time at the nationals since 1999 with a team headed by coach Larry Jones, a history teacher and one of the winningest coaches in the country.

Jones recently thought about what a win would mean.

"Hard work pays off," Jones said. "They gave nine months of their lives for this."

The team recently calculated the hours spent studying since the state competition in March. The total came to about 272 hours and includes eight hours of studying daily — after school, on weekends and all through spring break.

Sankaran wouldn't study as hard if it weren't for Jones, he said.

"We all appreciate that he's as dedicated to winning as we are. He inspires us," Sankaran said. "I had the highest score in the state, and he taught us there are still places to grow."

This past Saturday, the team took a break of a few hours from studying to go to the prom. Like most school activities, the team went together as a group. The theme for the night was Paris.

Senior Angela Chen, once a shy student, was voted homecoming queen, and also is a member of the prom court.

Chrissa Rutkai said looking for a prom dress and shoes and spending a few hours to get her hair done ate up some valuable study time.

"That has not helped my stress levels," Rutkai said.

Documentary filmed

The Moorpark High School team will be not only representing California this week but also be the face of the game itself.

A local filmmaker, Rich Burlingham, is documenting Moorpark's path to the nationals, interviewing the team since its state win.

"I said, Wait a minute; no one has done this before,'" Burlingham said. "These kids work so hard; they deserve some recognition."

Burlingham, a Moorpark resident who works for Community Access Partners of San Buenaventura, says he wants to do for the Academic Decathlon what "Spellbound" did for the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Nine months of intense studying will end for the Moorpark team Saturday. Along the way, the students say academic endurance, personal growth and sacrifice have brought them together. They know that they will all be lifelong friends, one student said.

"We're like a cult," Rutkai said, smiling.

On the Net:

http://www.usad.org

Moorpark Academic Decathlon team members

Jonah Buck

Age: 18.

College attending next year: University of Oregon.

Medals at state: Gold, Super Quiz. Silver, economics and science. Bronze, literature.

Once the competition is over: He wants to watch "Alien vs. Predator" or any "terrible and amusing film."

Christie Calle

Age: 17.

College attending next year: Pacific Lutheran University.

Medals at state: Gold, speech. Silver, math and literature. Bronze, economics.

Highlight: Being on the team with her brother, who placed second, while she won the highest varsity score at state.

Colin Calle

Age: 16.

Medals at state: Gold, math. Super Quiz. Bronze, essay.

Once the competition is over: He wants to play the Nintendo video game, "Super Smash Bros." He also plans on returning next year.

Favorite coach Jones saying: "How we do?"

Angela Chen

Age: 18.

College attending next year: Harvard University.

Medals at state: Silver, speech and math. Bronze, science.

Highlight: Being crowned homecoming queen.

Something she'll miss: Coach Jones' "good luck huddles" before the competitions.

Anaamika Campeau

Age: 18.

College attending next year: UC Berkeley.

Medals at state: Gold, art and music. Silver, science and Super Quiz.

Greatest improvement: Her math score; out of a possible 1,000, it went from a low 543 to now scoring in the 700s.

Justine Levan

Age: 17.

College attending next year: UC San Diego or UC Berkeley.

Medals at state: Gold, Super Quiz. Bronze, art.

Once the competition is over: Catch up on sleep and episodes of "The Office."

Preferred caffeine drink: A Coke, every day at lunch.

Chrissa Rutkai

Age: 17.

College attending next year: Randolph College in Virginia.

Medals at state: Gold, math and science. Silver, literature. Bronze, art and economics.

Once the competition is over: She wants to start exercising again and see the new "Indiana Jones" movie.

Kris Sankaran

Age: 16.

Medals at state: Gold, Super Quiz, science, literature. Silver, economics.

Greatest lesson learned: "Throughout the year, I stopped worrying about what people think about me. I don't have to impress anyone; I can just be myself."

Paul Watanabe

Age: 17.

College attending next year: Brown University.

Medals at state: Gold, speech. Silver, art, literature. Bronze, math.

Favorite team moment: What has become known as "Pauliday," when his teammates dressed like him.