Silver Spring Students Compete In Quiz Bowl Championship

SILVER SPRING, MD — Students from Montgomery Blair High School joined over 300 of the top high school quiz bowl teams at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis for the 2017 High School National Championship Tournament this Memorial Day weekend.

Montgomery Blair entered two of the ten Maryland teams competing at the national championship. The A team consisted of Anson Berns, Sambuddha Chattopadhyay, Ben Miller and Ian Rackow. The B team consisted of Haydn Gwyn, Katherine Lei, Sophia Weng, and David Witten. The teams were coached by Erik Lodal and James Schafer, who was assisted by Peter Hammond.

Quiz bowl is a competitive, academic, interscholastic activity for teams of four students. Quiz bowl teams use buzzers to answer questions about science, math, history, literature, mythology, geography, social science, current events, sports, and popular culture. Participation in quiz bowl both reinforces lessons from the classroom and encourages players to develop new intellectual interests.

Montgomery Blair A began the preliminary rounds with a four-game winning streak, in which they defeated C. E. Byrd B from Shreveport, Louisiana; Phillips Academy B from Andover, Massachusetts; Manheim Township from Lancaster, Pennsylvania; and Hunter B from New York, New York. They finished the preliminary rounds with an 8-2 record, which qualified them for the playoffs. Montgomery Blair B finished the preliminary rounds with a 6-4 record, which also qualified them for the playoffs.

Montgomery Blair A was on the brink of elimination when they defeated Hunter B from New York, New York in round 20 to stay alive. Unfortunately, they lost to Chattahoochee A from Johns Creek, Georgia, ending their shot at the title.

Montgomery Blair B had a challenging path to the playoffs. They were on the brink of elimination when they defeated Collins Hill B from Suwanee, Georgia and Bellarmine College Prep B from San Jose, California in succession to stay alive. Montgomery Blair B was once again on the brink of elimination when they defeated Ronald Reagan from San Antonio, Texas in round 17 to stay alive. Unfortunately, they lost to Strake Jesuit A from Houston, Texas, ending their shot at the title.

The A team finished in 15th place, and the B team finished in 65th place.

The tournament champion was the A team from Hunter College High School of New York, New York.

The 2017 HSNCT field featured 304 teams from thirty-seven states and China.

Pixabay Photo