Karen Quincy Loberg / Star staff Christie Calle delivers her three-minute Academic Decathlon speech at a reception for the Moorpark High School Academic Decathlon National Champions. The winners were honored at a reception at the school Wednesday.

Karen Quincy Loberg / Star staff Moorpark High School Academic Decathlon National Champions 2008 are applauded at the reception at the school. They will also visit the White House on May 23.

From left, Christie Calle, Angela Chen, Paul Watanabe, and Anaamika Campeau celebrate with cake.

Students will emulate what you hold up to them, Larry Jones said Wednesday at a celebration honoring the Moorpark High School decathlon team he coached to a national victory.

Nine students, he said, were told the national title was within their grasp, and they not only got it, but they also broke every record along the way.

The education and political community came out to recognize the team and coach Wednesday at the Performing Arts Center at the school.

"It's not often you can say you are the best in the country," Ventura County Supervisor Peter Foy said.

Moorpark High School won first place in the 2008 U.S. Academic Decathlon in Garden Grove on Saturday, beating 40 other schools from around the country. The team did it with the highest score in the history of the game.

Congratulations and accolades were passed around the auditorium, where about 200 people gathered, including news crews, students, parents and local dignitaries.

Foy, along with representatives from the offices of Congressman Elton Gallegly and Assemblywoman Audra Strickland, gave commendations for the team's achievements.

With 53,119 points, the team broke its own record, set in the state competition in March. No one had ever broken the 53,000 mark. A perfect score is 60,000.

At the Saturday competition, about 360 students from around the country competed in 10 academic events with multiple-choice tests in subjects such as art, literature, science and math.

Moorpark took a combined total of 36 medals. In the Super Quiz competition, the team, representing California, set another record with a total team score of 5,940 out of a possible 6,000 points.

The Civil War was the topic for this year's competition.

Jones said there was a line in the Gettysburg Address that stuck with the team through the eight-hour study days: when Abraham Lincoln says the people are "dedicated to the great task" remaining before them.

The County Board of Education issued a resolution, and Cary Dritz, associate superintendent, delivered it.

Dritz, who was the Moorpark High School principal who hired Jones in 1989, said if there were any writers in the audience, they should write a movie about the Moorpark team.

Jones pointed out a camera was recording the event and that one day the story of the Moorpark Academic Decathlon team will be turned into a documentary.

The team will also be heading to Washington, D.C., on May 23 to be honored at the White House. There could be several talk show appearances in the works, too.

"I am just so in debt to them," Jones said, motioning to his team sitting to the side of him on stage.

Moorpark High School Academic Decathlon A team includes Paul Watanabe, Jonah Buck, Colin Calle, Chrissa Rutkai, Kris Sankaran, Anaamika Campeau, Angela Chen, Justine Levan and Christie Calle.

The Moorpark High School Academic Decathlon B team includes Kari Geiger, John Grasel, Aubrey McClure, Neil Paik, Heidi Elneil and Kelly Klimaszewski.