Photos by Jason Redmond / Star staff Moorpark High School Academic Decathlon team member Christie Calle, center, wipes tears as she gets her first medal. From left are teammates Jonah Buck, her brother Colin Calle, and team captain Justine Levan.

Video: National champs

 
Moorpark High School wins first place in the 2008 U.S. Academic Decathlon.
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Moorpark coach Larry Jones, left, receives the Division I Overall Team Award from Decathlon Board President Bob Brezina.

Moorpark High School won first place in the 2008 U.S. Academic Decathlon in Garden Grove on Saturday and did it with the highest score in the 40-year history of the game.

With 53,119 points, the powerhouse team broke its own record, set in the state competition in March, by 240 points.

Before they were named the winners, the nine-member team and coach Larry Jones sat around their table, with heads bowed, holding hands, awaiting the announcement:

"And the 2008 national champion is Moorpark High School!"

Chairs fell over and cameras flashed as the team jumped up. Screams from the team filled the auditorium, as did the cheers of dozens of supporters who came from Ventura County, including parents, friends and school officials.

Words were hard to come by, but flushed faces and sobs marked the moment, as the team stood for photographs. While members flashed smiles for the camera, Jones said loudly: "Moorpark! Moorpark!"

The glass trophy confirms Moorpark's dynasty, adding to the team's first-place national title wins in 1999 and 2003.

Teammates gathered around Jones as he examined the scores. The team beat the competition by the equivalent of one question — 23 points.

Waukesha West High School of Wisconsin scored 53,096, earning the second-highest score in history behind Moorpark. A perfect score is 60,000.

"I wouldn't want to be on the other end of this," Jones said, examining the scores.

The third-place team, Pearland High School in Texas, was more than 3,000 points behind, with 51,590.

Moorpark also came away with the most medals, including 36 for individual subjects.

Kris Sankaran was the second-highest individual scorer in the honors division, with 9,277 points; Colin Calle was the top-scoring varsity student with 8,929 points while Chrissa Rutkai placed first in the scholastic division.

"I'm feeling everything. Happy, excited, sad," said senior Angela Chen, who wore seven medals.

Moorpark was one of 41 teams that competed in the 27th national competition. About 360 students from around the country competed in 10 academic events.

The U.S. Civil War was the topic this year. Each team takes seven multiple-choice tests in subjects such as art, literature, science and math.

Teams also give speeches, write essays and participate in interviews. The Super Quiz is composed of the oral relay and a multiple-choice written test.

Another highlight for Moorpark was winning the Super Quiz relay on Friday with the highest score ever in the history of the event.

"I've seen great teams before but not like Moorpark," said Ken Scarberry, state director for the Academic Decathlon.

California has a tradition of turning out winners in the national event.

Southern California schools have won nine national titles in 13 years.

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

The Super Quiz relay on Friday was the last event of the 2008 National Academic Decathlon, which had Moorpark scoring 41 points out of a possible 45. Park City High School from Utah took second place, and Arizona's Mountain View High School took third.

Saturday's awards ceremony was not without some drama. With about 30 minutes left to the ceremony, just before Moorpark was announced the winner of the Super Quiz, the hotel and the surrounding area experienced a power outage.

The awards were presented under emergency lighting in the Grand Ballroom of the Hyatt Regency and without microphones.

Finally, cheers accompanied the lights, just minutes before the top-scoring teams were announced.

Moorpark's Paul Watanabe wore four medals. His most prized one was the gold medal for Super Quiz, in which he scored a perfect 1,000 points. He was floored by Wisconsin's score, too.

"It was so close," he said.

Standing among his students, there was only one moment that came close to Saturday's triumph for Moorpark High School Principal Kirk Miyashiro.

"When I had my son," Miyashiro said.

Miyashiro said the team will fly to Washington, D.C., to be honored at the White House later this month.

Moorpark High School will have a reception for the 2008 champions Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center at 4500 Tierra Rejada Road.

"I've seen great teams before but not like Moorpark."

Ken Scarberry, state director for the Academic Decathlon