On January 19, 2020, the SHP Quiz Bowl team competed in the NHBB New Jersey State Championships in Ridgewood High School. It consisted of the History Bowl, which is the team event, and the History Bee and other individual events. This was the team’s strongest performance in years, as the varsity team made it to the quarterfinals.

The varsity team consisted of the three veteran players: Nick Rauschenberger ’20, Bryan Fok ’21, and Edwin Mensah-Boateng ’21. That team did exceptionally well, as they went undefeated in the preliminary rounds. They scored more than 300 points in four of their five matches and defeated each of their opponents by a comfortable margin. As a result, the varsity team received the sixth seed in the playoffs out of twenty-six teams and received a first-round bye. Coming out of the bye, they easily beat Ranney A in the octofinals to advance to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, the varsity team lost to George Washington A, a strong team from West Virginia. Their strong showing qualified the varsity team for nationals, which will be held in April in Arlington, Virginia. This was the Quiz Bowl team’s strongest showing in years, and they proved that they could compete with the strongest teams in the nation.

The JV team consisted of three newcomers to the team: Joseph Bartolomeo ’22, Pat McGowan ’22, and Thomas Gaita ’22. The JV team went 1-4 in the preliminary rounds and did not make the playoffs, but they gained valuable experience of playing in a tournament for the first time. They have great potential to do great in the future.

Many members of both teams also competed in individual tournaments that were available. Thomas Gaita ’22 competed in the History Bee, and he had a very respectable showing. He had a score of 3-3-3, which gave him 26^th place and he just missed qualifying for nationals by two places.

During the lunch break, many students decided to take written exams to try to qualify for nationals in various competitions such as the US Geography Championships, International Geography Bee, National Political Science Bee, and the National Science Bee. For the geography exam, Bryan Fok ’21 scored an 82, which was tied for the highest varsity score at this event and qualified him for both nationals and worlds again. Joseph Bartolomeo ’22 scored a 20 for then geography exam in the JV division.

This is the inaugural year for the National Political Science Bee and two of our students sat for the exam to qualify for nationals. Nick Rauschenberger ‘20 had a perfect score in the varsity division, which qualified him for nationals. Thomas Gaita ’22 scored a 77 in the JV division, which was the second-highest score at the event and qualified him for nationals. This is also the first year for the National Science Bee, and one of our students, Pat McGowan ’22, sat for the exam. He scored a 43 in the JV division, and just missed qualifying for nationals by a few points. Overall, this was a strong showing for the team in individual events.

The quiz bowl team showed that they improved dramatically from last year. The team grew considerably, as they added a number of newcomers. Those new members ensure that the future of the team is safe. “The results were quite positive,” said coach Dr. Moore. The quiz bowl team is now having continuous success and they have a bright future.