Photo courtesy of Archana Subramanian
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Hoover HIgh School's A Team won 10th place out of 272 teams from 34 states that participated in the Quiz Bowl 2022 High School National Championship Tournament in Atlanta in late May 2022. Team members, from left, included Kapil Nathan (who was named an All-Star), Sarah Xin, Midhun Sadanand and Christopher Cheng.
A team from Hoover High School finished in 10th place out of 272 teams from 34 states in the Quiz Bowl 2022 High School National Championship Tournament in Atlanta this past weekend.
Quiz Bowl teams use buzzers to answer questions about science, math, history, literature, mythology, geography, social science, current events, sports and popular culture.
Hoover High School’s A Team was captained by Chris Cheng and includd Kapil Nathan, Midhun Sadanand and Sarah Xin.
The A Team began the preliminary rounds with an eight-game winning streak, in which they defeated International Academy Okma from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan; Richard Montgomery B from Rockville, Maryland; Bellarmine College Prep from San Jose, California; Barrington A from Illinois (the defending champions); Downingtown STEM from Pennsylvania; East Brunswick from New Jersey; High Tech from Lincroft, New Jersey; and Richard Montgomery A from Rockville, Maryland. They finished the preliminary rounds with a 9-1 record, which qualified them for the playoffs.
The A team defeated High Tech from Lincroft, New Jersey by the narrow margin of 320-305 during round 14; defeated Richard Montgomery A from Rockville, Maryland 345-340 during round 15; and defeated Providence from Charlotte, North Carolina 235-220 during round 24.
Hoover’s A Team spent three playoff games on the brink of elimination. They defeated Providence from Charlotte, North Carolina, and Wayzata A from Plymouth, Minnesota, before falling to Thomas Jefferson Science & Tech A from Alexandria, Virginia, ending their shot at the title.
The A team’s 10th place finish was the best performance by any of the 14 teams from Alabama.
Nathan was honored as an All-Star for correctly answering 72 toss-up questions — 31 of them for "power," that is, so early as to earn extra points — in the preliminary rounds.
Hoover also sent a B Team to compete in the national championship tournament, captained by Aiden Dombrosky and Kevin Kong and including Kenneth Curlings, Miley Henton, Krish Nathan and Matthew Shen.
Hoover’s B Team finished the preliminary rounds with a 6-4 record, which qualified them for the playoffs.The B team defeated Downingtown STEM from Pennsylvania by the narrow margin of 240-220 during round 9; suffered a narrow loss to Stanton College Prep A from Jacksonville, Florida, 255-240 during round 12; and defeated Langley from McLean, Virginia, 230-205 during round 14.
They were on the brink of elimination when they defeated Irondale from New Brighton, Minnesota, in round 20 to stay alive. But the Hoover B team's shot at the title ended when they lost to Clark of Las Vegas, Nevada, in round 21. The B team finished in 82nd place.
Hoover’s teams were coached by Tim Caine, who was assisted by Anthony Hamley.
The tournament champion was the A team from Detroit Catholic Central High School of Novi, Michigan. The tournament was organized and run by National Academic Quiz Tournaments.
Quiz Bowl matches feature a blend of individual competition and team collaboration because no individual player is likely to be an expert in all subject areas. Participation in quiz bowl both reinforces lessons from the classroom and encourages players to develop new intellectual interests.
