The crowd was hushed. The tension was high. The competitors only had several seconds to make their play. And then, the crowd erupted with applause and cheers. So was the scene at the Academic Decathlon’s Super Quiz on Sunday afternoon. This portion of the competition yielded a variety of reactions from the crowd gathered in the theater at CCRI. In front of their parents and peers, student competitors had several seconds to answer multiple-choice questions like, “The role of Tatya Tope in the 1857 Rebellion was as?”

With the stakes at their highest, correct answers prompted cries of joy, and incorrect guesses earned dejected silence from the crowd.

But it was only a few hours later that most of the students at the 29th Rhode Island Academic Decathlon wore smiles of success on their faces. After the Super Quiz and a brief recess at which students ate pizza and danced to Lady Gaga hits, the 17 teams reconvened to accept their awards.

Dozens of bronze, silver and gold medals were handed out to students from various institutions, but there could only be one overall winner. Which team would take home the 4-foot trophy that sat on the awards table?

The top three teams were East Greenwhich, Johnston and Bishop Hendricken High School. Once East Greenwich was congratulated as the third place winner, Johnston took second place and Hendricken was chosen to represent Rhode Island in the national decathlon in Albuquerque in April.

Although they weren’t in the top three, the Cranston West team made its presence known, finishing in fifth place and taking home several individual medals.

Cranston West’s Tony Habchi won gold for top scores in the super quiz; Luke Stabile won bronze for interview; Rachel Souza won gold for speech and William Howarth won bronze for science.

The team had been practicing since September, meeting twice a week after school to pore over study materials, guides and practice questions.

“We practice with each other,” said Eric Borrelli, a senior from West.

The team agreed that some portions of the event were more challenging than others.

“The math section – there was no time at all,” said Rachel Souza, a junior.

The students concurred that other events, like the interview, were much easier.

Despite their rigorous preparation, many students said their involvement in the decathlon was as much for social reasons as it was academic.

“One of my friends roped me into it,” said Souza.

Stephanie Catanzaro, the coach of the decathlon team at Warwick’s Toll Gate High School, said her students liked to compete to meet new people within their own school and from other schools throughout the state.

Still, some students, like Caitlyn Getchell, a freshman at Warwick Veterans High School, said she became interested in competing for a very specific reason.

“It looks amazing on college applications,” she said.

Throughout the course of the day, students competed in various events that covered topics like math, science, art, language and literature, economics, essay writing and music. They also had to present speeches to the judges, and be interviewed. The final event was the Super Quiz, which parents and peers were invited to watch.

Some students from Johnston turned out to support the 2nd place finishers, bearing banners and school colors.

“We have a lot of school spirit,” said Danielle Gawlik, a senior at Johnston who came to watch and cheer. “I think they did really well.”

After the awards ceremony, the teams cleared out of the theater, medals clanking around their necks and awards in hand.

Jade Harris, a senior from Toll Gate who was returning to the decathlon for her second year, said her experience gave her an advantage, but it didn’t make the competition any easier.

“It’s a lot of pressure,” she said. “But also a lot of fun.”