Van Nuys High Team Advances in Science Bowl

Still in the hunt for a national championship, a team from Van Nuys High School advanced Sunday into the quarterfinals at the Science Bowl in Washington, D.C.

Heading into today’s final rounds, the five-member team remained in the winner’s bracket in the double-elimination tournament, which quizzes students on subjects such as chemistry, physics, biology and math.

Competition Sunday eliminated 43 of the 55 teams, said Matthew Donoghue, spokesman for the U. S. Department of Energy, which puts on the event. The Van Nuys team on Sunday defeated schools from Washington, D.C., Nebraska, Hawaii and Colorado, Donoghue said.

“We’re really proud of them,” said Walter Zeisl, a spokesman for the team’s sponsor, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

Members of the team include Jonathan Kirzner, 17; Michael Chu, 17; Michael Mazur, 17; Scott Schneider, 16, and Do Joon Ra, 18. The team’s coach is school physics teacher Art Altshiller.