Some students at this year's academic decathlon say the competition was intense.
"I've never been in a situation like that," said Andréa Flores, a senior at Cesar Chavez High school. "My face was burning hot, I thought I was going to pass out."
Flores is a captain for Cesar Chavez's nine-member team. She competed in the first round and said the pressure was on.
"I think the pressure is your family is there, your teammates, and it kind of feels like you're letting everyone down if you don’t get the question right."
Each student gets only seven seconds to answer each question. There are 10 questions in a round for a total of three rounds.
Nineteen schools in the county competed. This year's theme was "The age of imperialism," a subject some students say they would not have studied much in school.
"We're learning about imperialism, hey, everyone likes a good story about a bad ruler," said Ivan Sandoval, a junior at Garces High School.
He competed in the third round as an honor student and says the key to winning the competition is not second guessing yourself on each question.
Kathy Hill oversees the Super Quiz portion of the decathlon each year. She says it costs thousands to put on, and she appreciates all the parents and teachers coming out to watch.
"I think anytime that we can offer some student event that gets kids excited about what they're learning, kids want to do it," said Hill, who is the math and science coordinator for the Kern County Superintendent of Schools. "They're engaged, they learn things outside of the classroom walls, I think that it's a good thing."
The event started at 8 a.m. with the students taking several tests. Some teams have trained since last summer. Flores says her team studied heavily over the winter break. She said they grew close, and she feels college will be a breeze now.
"I think academic decathlon is like no other organization at any school because I'm in cheerleading and I'm in band and in AP and nothing gives me the skills that academic decathlon gave me."
Bakersfield High School won the decathlon, with last year's winner, Stockdale High School, coming in second place. Frontier High School won the Super Quiz.
