N. Hollywood High 6th at Science Bowl

Defending champions North Hollywood High School finished sixth Monday after three days of competition at the National Science Bowl in Washington, D.C.

Virginia’s Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology took first place, Boulder High School in Colorado came in second and Mission San Jose High School finished third.

“We had some excellent teams out there,” said North Hollywood senior Julia Hu. “They were really fast, and I think we encountered a lot of bad luck.”

The competition began Saturday with a round-robin session in which North Hollywood won five matches and lost one. The school had previously gone undefeated in the first round for four years in a row at the national bowl.

“You have to pick up the pieces and start over again,” said North Hollywood coach Len Soloff. “You have to be positive, though there’s a part of me that’s really sad. It was fun, and hopefully we will be back next year.”

The first-round loss meant North Hollywood had to win all subsequent matches to repeat as champions. In the second round of a double-elimination tournament, they lost to Mission San Jose and Thomas Jefferson, which dominated the competition.

“That deflated our egos,” Hu said.

Sixty-four teams competed in the 11th annual competition. Students are tested in a game-show format in which they must sound a buzzer before answering a question. Speed is the key to victory, Soloff said.

For seniors like Hu, it was difficult to accept that the games were over.

“I’ve put three years into [science bowl] so I’m kind of sad,” Hu said. “I’m going to be nostalgic and suffering from buzzer withdrawal.”

North Hollywood placed fourth in 2000 and second in 1999 and 1998.