University High School senior Ethan Peterson was psyched and ready to go minutes before the Super Quiz portion of the Fresno County Academic Decathlon on Saturday.

"I'm feeling really good," Ethan, 17, said. Then he yelled, "I feel pumped."

Ethan's enthusiasm captured the pep-rallylike atmosphere as he and other participants entered the packed gymnasium at Glacier Point Middle School in Fresno to roaring cheers before the decathlon's final event.

And he had plenty of reason to feel pumped -- his charter school, which has been national champion in the Academic Decathlon small-school division for the past five years -- reclaimed the county championship from perennial champion Edison High School, which has won 17 times since 1992.

University High also won the Super Quiz, and three of the school's team members -- Timothy Anderson, Joseph Matsushita and Tiffany Cao -- posted the competition's top scores.

Meanwhile, in other Valley Academic Decathlons on Saturday, Yosemite High School came in first in Madera County for the 19th consecutive year and Lemoore High School took the top prize in Kings County.

Tulare County held its Academic Decathlon on Saturday but won't release the results until an awards ceremony on Monday.

The county winners will compete at the California Academic Decathlon State Finals on March 15-18 in Sacramento.

Ethan put into perspective the long hours of preparation required to compete in the decathlon.

"You get a real sense of self-discipline because this isn't easy," he said. "You're not going to do well unless you force yourself to read and know the stuff."

The 30th year of the competition was a chance to showcase the county's academic prowess, said Mike Berg, superintendent of Central Unified School District, which includes Glacier Point school.

"It's exciting to see an academic event take on the same intensity as a high school basketball playoff game," he said.

Students and parents of the participants showed their support for the teams, cheering wildly as each school marched into the gymnasium. The thunderous cheers continued as the teams' scores were raised by proctors after each of the 10 Super Quiz questions. This year's topic was "Age of Empire."

Senior Sergio Martinez, a three-year member of Roosevelt High's team, said participating in the decathlon has inspired him to study and pay attention to subjects he normally wouldn't.

"Because Roosevelt has a lot of good history [in the decathlon], I'm trying hard," said Martinez, 18.

Roosevelt won eight of the county's first 11 decathlons.

Adan Galvan, an 18-year-old Cambridge High School senior, said he was competing for two reasons: "They give you extra credits and I need those to graduate, and you learn a lot, too, so that's a benefit."

THE RESULTS: FRESNO COUNTY

Division I

University High School (46,304.9 points)

Coach: Sean Canfield

Team members: Adam Habib, Christopher Dahill, Ethan Peterson, Jessica Kerner, Joseph Matsushita, Richard Martinez, Samuel Barretto, Tiffany Cao and Timothy Anderson.

Division II

Sanger High School

(31631.8 points)

Division III

Central High School

(34954.6 points)

Division IV

Clovis High School

(28572.3 points)

Overall teams

1. University High

(33,297.3 points)

2. Edison High School

(44,928.3 points)

3. Bullard High School

(37,077 points)

4. Central High School

(34,954.6 points)

5. Sanger High School

(31,631.8 points)

6. Fowler High School

(31,380.7 points)

7. Selma High School