Tracy academic decathlon teams scored lower than expected during a weekend of intellectual rivalry at the San Joaquin County academic decathlon.

Tracy High School placed sixth overall, and Millennium High School placed 10th out of 11 teams. Both brought young teams to compete in Stockton on Saturday.

Academic decathlon coach Anne Bednarz said the Tracy team was disappointed to not place in the top five.

“They really have to study and have to test well,” she added. “They may study and work hard, but they may become frantic during the test.”

Students took a written exam from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. They also competed in an interview, a speech and an oral relay contest.

Tracy High’s team has a tradition of success in the academic decathlon ring. 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.

Millennium High’s team, made up of freshmen, sophomores and juniors, improved its score this year. For the first time, Millennium High, which opened in 2004, will have seniors in the fall.

“I think we’ll give them a run for their money,” coach Leslie Rogers said.

The Millennium High team of 20 students received material in April 2006, read through the summer and studied throughout the school year in a year-round academic decathlon class.

Millennium High students who medaled are sophomore Jonathon Coelho, junior Julia Roberts and junior Amanda Zblewski.

Tracy High sophomore Kristen Holtz scored fifth place overall, and Eric Zhou took sixth.

Other Tracy High students who medaled were freshman Nihir Patel, sophomores Scott Liu, Rebecca Shipman and Niko Van Wonterghem, junior Victoria Castaneda and seniors Jaskiran Mann and Megan Wingo.

West High School did not compete this year.