No track shoes are needed for this high school decathlon.

Instead, 20 Tracy High School students will pack sharpened No. 2 pencils for the academic decathlon competition in Stockton today.

Nine students, including sophomores, juniors and seniors, make up Tracy High’s “starting” team that is the front line of competition against teams countywide. The team’s brilliance will be tested through a written exam, an interview, a speech and an oral relay called the super quiz.

Teammates received academic decathlon materials in April 2006 and have spent about five hours a week studying 10 different subjects, all related to this year’s theme — Chinese culture.

“Just when you think you’ve crammed everything in, there’s always a little more you can learn,” said senior Jessica Ocegueda, who will start for Tracy today.

Tracy High’s team has a tradition of success in the decathlon. The team won the county competition and went on to compete at the state level in 1998, 2000, 2001 and 2005. Last year’s team took third in the county, and coach Anne Boznarth said this year’s competitors are better prepared.

What’s Tracy High’s secret

Ocegueda credits the high school’s repeated success to students’ diligence in passing on advice and tips each year.

“The tradition of how Tracy teams study and compete has stayed with us,” she said. “There’s a lot of camaraderie.”

While most students would refuse to study an additional five hours a week, senior Megan Wingo, who will also start today, admits she can’t imagine her high school years without academic decathlon.

The class, which meets after school three days a week, helps fine-tune students’ studying skills and sometimes benefits their performance in other classes.

“If I can be successful in that,” Wingo pointed to her heavy academic decathlon binder, “I can be successful in everything else I do.”

n To contact reporter Danielle MacMurchy, call 830-4221 or e-mail danielle@tracypress.com.