New York, Indiana Dominate
Harrison High School (West Lafayette, IN) became the first Indiana school to win the National Academic Championship. They set the all-time record for the most contestants playing at various times on a championship team (9). It was also the first time that a championship team was led by a mother (Lyn Schneider) as coach and a daughter (Ariel Schneider) as player. Four-year veterans Fuhe Xu and Ariel Schneider proved the best one-two punch since the late 90s, when Justin Powell and Ryan Cooper led those powerful James Island (SC) teams. Harrison's other team members: Dafang Chen, Andrew Harbor, Valeri Guido, Zach Hallberg, Andrew Pfaff, Tiffany Bucher, and Ryo Chiba. Harrison has been to Nationals every year since 2001, making the playoffs every time. (Their B team has also made the playoffs a couple of times.) In 2007, Harrison finished with a spotless 12-0 record.
Here are the champs...
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San Antonio Phase
HORACE GREELEY EDGES PENN MANOR TO WIN SAN ANTONIO.
Qualifying for the playoffs in the Alamo City were 10 of the 25 teams that made the trip to San Antonio for the first phase of the 2007 National Academic Championship. Only one of the ten, Booker T. Washington (OK) had finished 6-0 in the preliminary rounds. No team finished the San Antonio phase undefeated, however, as Jackson Prep (MS) upset Booker T. Washington in the playoffs, by answering this question in overtime: "Whose poems include 'To His Excellency George Washington' and 'On being brought from Africa to America'"? (Ans. Phyllis Wheatley).
Actually, no team entered playoff day as the clear favorite to triumph. Other very close playoff matches included: Jackson Prep 285, Holland Hall (OK) 270; Copley (OH) 315, Scripps Ranch (CA) 275; Hoover (AL) 300, East (PA) 295. (Copley-Scripps Ranch was a rematch of the last preliminary round game, which Scripps Ranch, in a must-win situation, had won by a score of 285-180.) No. 2 seed Horace Greeley's (NY) first two playoff games were hardly close: they defeated Copley 440-260 and then Hoover 470-230. (The Horace Greeley-Copley match featured a rare double-sweep, as Copley ran the "Martin Luther King" category in 60 Seconds, then Horace Greeley ran, of all things, the "Franz Ferdinand" category. Horace Greeley, in the Quarterfinal match with Hoover, swept the "Serbia" category.) Penn Manor (PA) overcame Jackson Prep in the first Quarterfinal match, 315-270.
First Semifinal Match
Trend-watchers would have predicted a decisive Horace Greeley win in the first Semifinal match; that is, the last San Antonio game. Penn Manor, however, out-played Horace Greeley in every quarter but the 60 Seconds Round. In the third period, Horace Greeley selected first, opting for the OGDEN NASH category, and gained 70 points to Penn Manor's 10. Penn Manor's unfortunate choice was SUE GRAFTON, and they picked up only 20 points to Horace Greeley's 0. Still, Penn Manor was able to re-gain the lead in the "Stump the Experts" round. Late in the contest, Horace Greeley tied it up in a most unlikely way. They heard this much of the question: "The G8 is a consortium of eight of the world's ...", then Ross Carstens buzzed in early. The look on his face showed regret, but his wild guess, "Russia," was correct, before the question itself was read: "Which of those countries has the lowest GDP?" On the second-to-last question, an algebra problem, the New York team took the lead. The final score was Horace Greeley 235, Penn Manor 220. Horace Greeley, qualifying for the free trip to Orlando, had already held the record for most airline miles logged at the National Academic Association's expense, as they won the DC phase four years in a row, 2001-2004, to qualify for trips to Malibu, CA and St. Louis.
Horace Greeley Does It Again ... With No Seniors on the Team ... Could They Be the Team to Beat in 2008?
Who Wants to Be a Game Show Host?
A new feature at Nationals proved, in San Antonio, to be so wildly popular that it will become a regular feature. On Sunday evening, a "reality program" was conducted, called WHO WANTS TO BE A GAME SHOW HOST? Students (graduating seniors) were invited to audition as moderators, and coaches played the game. Alice Rote, Copley B's coach, turned out to be the game's MVP. As for the audition, which the students understood to be a real audition for a job as one of the moderators at next year's Nationals, the talent pool was better than any of the judges anticipated. Advancing to the Semifinals were: Maggie Larkin (Booker T. Washington), Chris Mayer (Copley), Arjun Plakat (East), Zachary Ullah (John Cooper), Allison Glazier (East), and Jeff Klein (Scripps Ranch). All of them were deemed good enough to be moderators at Nationals ... Arjun and Maggie were so good that the judges couldn't decide, so named them co-winners of the audition.
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DC Phase
HARRISON GOES 10-0 IN DC .
Harrison High School (West Lafayette, IN) has been coming to Nationals every year since 2001, with two teams, and their A-team has made the playoffs every time; their B-team twice. The closest anybody came to defeating them this year in DC was when Delaware Valley (PA) scored 240 to Harrison's 290 in a preliminary match. On playoff day, Harrison defeated Jackson (WV), 425-155; then Ithaca (NY), 330-200. In the Final Four, they beat a perennial playoff contender which just gets better every year, Seton Hall (NJ), 470-205.
Torrey Pines
Six teams entered the DC playoffs with 6-0 records: Harrison, Torrey Pines (CA), New Rochelle (NY), South Brunswick (NJ), Hamilton Southeastern (IN), and Seton Hall. No. 1 ranked Torrey Pines defeated High Tech (NJ) 395-265 to advance to the Final Four. Torrey Pines next faced first-time NAC competitor, South Brunswick. What ensued was the most exciting game of the DC playoffs. Torrey Pines took the lead in the bonus round when they swept a series calling for the names of the four African countries most affected by AIDS (Swaziland, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho). Late in the fourth period, South Brunswick trailed 220-285, with only six questions left. They converted a 20-point quantitative physics question to draw to within 45. They then translated a Spanish sentence, Usted es mas loco que una cabra (Ans. You are crazier than a goat.), cutting Torrey Pines's lead to only 30. South Brunswick then named three schools that have won the 64-team NCAA basketball tournament more than once (Duke, Kentucky, Florida). With only three questions left, the score was: Torrey Pines 285, South Brunswick 275. Torrey Pines answered a 15-point stoichiometry question, and South Brunswick answered with 20 points by identifying Kazakstan and Uzbekistan as the two former Soviet republics between which the Aral Sea is located. Going into the final question it was Torrey Pines 300, South Brunswick 295. But Torrey Pines knew that it is chickenpox in childhood that may result in shingles in old age, so they won the game, 315-295.
Second Semifinal Match
So, No. 1 Torrey Pines faced No. 2 Harrison in the last DC match. In the second period, Harrison took the lead on a visual question, when Ariel Schneider identified a vase from the Ming period, and they garnered 30 points on the ensuing Broadway bonus. Trailing at halftime, Torrey Pines's 60-seconds choice turned out to be tough: they were asked to finish the titles of books all taking their titles from Hamlet's soliloquy. Both teams gained 30 points on that category. Harrison chose Kangaroo Words (ones that have a synonym within their letters, such as Rotund to Round, and Salvage to Save.) Harrison got 80 to Torrey Pines's 20, so entered the final quarter with a substantial lead. Midway through the "Stump the Experts" round, Torrey Pines got four in a row, 70 unanswered points, on questions about Rosalynn Carter, Biochemistry, Italian, and a very impressive identification of a photograph by Alfred Stieglitz. Torrey Pines won the fourth quarter, but it wasn't enough to overcome the great Harrison team effort, led by four-year NAC veterans Ariel Schneider and Fuhe Xu. The final score was Harrison 355, Torrey Pines 285.
DC MVP
The razor-sharp and good-natured Brian Alford of Torrey Pines was named MVP of the DC phase of the competition.
Coach's Game.
The MVP of the coaches game was none other than Brooks Sanders, formerly an excellent moderator at Nationals, still the writer/host of the TC3 High School Challenge TV program, this time accompanying as chaperone the team that won his tournament, Ithaca.
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We were very sad to learn of the death of Kim-Loan Nguyen at the age of 18
on Thursday, September 6, 2007, a victim of leukemia. Kim, a contestant
on the Houston Lamar High School team, won the DC version of our WHO WANTS TO BE A GAME SHOW HOST? program. Due to her poise, intelligence, amiability, and fine voice, we were planning to invite her to Dallas on Memorial Day Weekend, 2008, to serve as one of our moderators at the National Academic Championship, which would have made her the first student ever so honored.
Orlando Phase.
As in San Antonio, only one of the playoff teams in Orlando went into post-season undefeated: Aiken (SC). As in San Antonio, the No. 1 seed, drawing a bye in the first playoff round, lost their first game in a contest that was decided on the last question.
The Tournament's Most Exciting Game
While Aiken was drawing that first-round bye, Shanghai American was defeating defending champs Byram Hills (NY) by a score of 325-225. The ensuing Aiken-Shanghai game was nip and tuck from start to finish. Shanghai held a 175-170 lead going into the final round. They increased their lead by identifying Willie Stark (from All the King's Men). Aiken tied it up by identifying Broca's area as the language-production center of the brain. Shanghai then gained 30 points with a math calculation and by recognizing Bach after listening to an organ passage. Aiken then took the lead with 50 unanswered points, with answers about The Confessions of Nat Turner, the definition of "relic," and MRI as the best way of quickly diagnosing a stroke. Shanghai, this year's best team on the subject of classical music, tied the game after recognizing an audio excerpt from Verdi's opera Rigoletto. Aiken took the lead by beating Shanghai to a calculus question - another category Shanghai seemed to "own" throughout the tournament. Fortune smiled on the team from China, as the last question was yet another query in their strongest subject: "In which modern-day country is Mozart's opera Abduction from the Seraglio set?" Shanghai knew it was Turkey, so came from behind to win it, 265-255.
Orlando Quarterfinals
Shanghai's magic ended when they faced Manheim Township (PA), a team that entered the playoffs with a 4-2 record, but had a terrific playoff day, defeating St. Thomas (MN) 380-295, then Shanghai 365-200. The Manheim Township-Shanghai game was a rematch of a preliminary round contest that Shanghai had won. In the second quarterfinal match, Hastings (NY), having beaten St. Joseph's (IN) 380-295 (aided by their sweep of the Martin Luther King 60 Seconds category), went on to steamroll that perennial Delaware powerhouse, Wilmington Charter, by a score of 400-160. That's how Hastings accomplished the rare feat of advancing to the Final Four for the second consecutive year.
The Final Four
That set the stage for the national semifinal matches, as we flew Horace Greeley in from New York to face Manheim Township (a battle of the schools that won Nationals in 2003 and 2000, respectively); and Harrison flew in from Indiana to meet Hastings.
The first of the "Final Four" contests was another back-and-forth game, with Horace Greeley winning the "Warm Up Round," Manheim Township taking the lead in the "Bonus Round," and Horace Greeley moving back into the lead during "Sixty Seconds," going into "Stump the Experts" with a 185-165 lead. Manheim Township took charge in the fourth quarter, with 70 unanswered points, including an identification of Ann Richards of Texas from an audio excerpt, Thomas Cranmer as the author of the Book of Common Prayer, a Jasper Johns painting, and a lyric from that Union Army anthem, "The Battle Cry of Freedom." Horace Greeley, an all-underclassman team, never recovered from that early fourth period onslaught, and Manheim Township won by a 270-235 margin.
In the second semifinal contest, Harrison grabbed three of the four bonus opportunities, picking up 30 points on Literature and sweeping the Chemistry category. Harrison's lead was substantial going into the "Stump the Experts" round. The final was Harrison 355, Hastings 190.
The Final Match
The title match was a close one. Manheim Township led Harrison after the first period, 55-50. They increased their lead during the bonus round, leading at halftime, 125-95. It looked as though Manheim Township was in position to become the first team ever to suffer two preliminary-round losses, and recover in the playoffs to win the title. That all changed during "Sixty Seconds," when Harrison swept the Biochemistry category. Manheim Township opted for the mystery category, which turned out to be Eighteenth Century. They picked up 50 points to Harrison's 20. Harrison led by a 235-175 margin going into "Stump the Experts." Four-year veterans Fuhe Xu and Ariel Schneider had proved themselves tough to beat in fourth-quarter action. Tenacious Manheim Township played them close, and each team got seven right in the final period. Township's most impressive answers were their identification of Mozart's Don Giovanni from a recorded excerpt, and Noam Chomsky as the MIT linguistics professor featured in the documentary film Manufacturing Consent. Harrison's notable feats included correct answers to these questions: "In 1892, which composer became director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York?" (Ans. Antonin Dvorak) ... "The escape velocity of a planet is the speed an object needs to attain to leave the gravitational pull of the planet. One commonly used equation for escape velocity is written with three letters representing three quantities. Name the three quantities required in this formula." (Ans. Mass of the planet, radius of the planet, Universal gravitational constant) ... "As a book reviewer for a conservative periodical, she gave thumbs down to his debut work, Uncle Tom's Children. He retaliated by disparaging her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, in a liberal magazine. Name these two African American authors, destined by politics and points of view to be enemies forever." (Ans. Zora Neale Hurston, Richard Wright). The final tally was Harrison 355, Manheim Township 290.
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Grand Prize.
The NAA would like to thank the Muller Foundation for providing the $2,000 scholarship award, presented to the champs from Harrison High School.
Auditions
Amy Varallo (Aiken, SC), Maddie Schaeffer (Manchester, MI) and Rico Maurer (Bayside, AL) advanced to the finals of the Orlando edition of WHO WANTS TO BE A GAME SHOW HOST? Amy and Maddie, whose teams both made the playoffs, were named co-winners. Waramaug coach Brock Putnam was named MVP of the coach's game.
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Orlando MVP
Almost not making the trip to Orlando was Zach Bennett, an eleventh-hour addition to Manheim Township's roster. He ended up earning Orlando MVP honors - an excellent captain of a team that had no superstars, but a well-balanced attack with every player contributing.
Coach of the Year
Harrison's Lyn Schneider was the clear choice for Coach of the Year honors. She has led Harrison to the playoffs every year they've participated at Nationals. They won it all in 2007 ... both coach and players also led the league in smiles!
Hall of Fame
Harrison's Fuhe Xu won the overall tournament MVP award. He and teammate Ariel Schneider entered the NAC Hall of Fame this year, honored for their performances from 2004 to 2007, their golden year.
In 25 years of competition, only 18 have made the Hall of Fame:
Mike Keller (Irmo, '85-87)
Eric Evans (Granville, OH, '88-89)
Jim Paluszak (Dorman, SC, '89-91)
Matt Bruce (Booker T. Washington, OK, '89-92)
Mark Staloff (East Brunswick, NJ, '94)
Brad Rutter (Manheim Township, PA, '92-95)
Brad Harris (James Island, SC, '92-95)
Amanda Goad (Governor's School, VA, '93-96)
Scott Petty (Houston Eisenhower '95 and Houston Memorial '96)
Justin Powell (James Island, '95-98)
Ryan Cooper (James Island, '95-99)
Dave Madden (Ridgewood, 1998-1999)
Jonathan Hess (Irmo, 1998-2002)
Sara Sheer (Horace Greeley, 2001-2004)
Matt Pargeter (Holland Hall, 2002-2005)
Nate Mattison (Byram Hills, 2004-2006)
Fuhe Xu (Harrison, 2004-2007)
Ariel Schneider (Harrison, 2004-2007)
Rookie of the Year
Rookie of the Year honors go to South Brunswick (NJ). Winners of the Bridgewater-Raritan Invitational Tournament of Excellence, they finished Nationals with a sterling 8-1 record, one of the finest rookie performances of all time. Congratulations to Coach Dan Caffrey. Other first-time competitors making the playoffs included Hoover (AL), Fishers (IN), and Hickman (MO). Hoover edged East Varsity (PA) in their first playoff game, 300-295, before falling to Horace Greeley in the San Antonio round of four.
Scoring Leaders
At the NAA, we judge teams not only on tournament progress (how far they advanced in the competition), but also on average points, and seldom does a team lead the league in both. This year, Harrison accomplished that feat, averaging 380 points per game, eclipsing Torrey Pines, which entered DC playoff day ranked No. 1, and finished with a 364 average. The 2006 Byram Hills juggernaut averaged 366 in their championship season.
New York and Indiana
The most impressive states at this year's tournaments were again Indiana and New York. New York - specifically, Westchester County - had two teams in the Final Four (Hastings and Horace Greeley). Other Westchester teams making the playoffs were: White Plains, Byram Hills, Briarcliff, Rye Country Day School, and New Rochelle. In addition to claiming the National Championship for the first time, Indiana had teams from St. Joseph's, Fishers, and Hamilton Southeastern in the playoffs.
Comeback Teams of the Year
Coach William Lipnick brought his Rye Country Day team back from an 0-6 finish in 2006 (ranked 95th) to a playoff appearance in 2007 (ranked 26th). New Rochelle improved from 1-5 in 2006 (ranked 84th) to 7-1 in 2007 (ranked 14th). In addition to Rye Country Day and New Rochelle, Manchester improved from an 0-6 record (ranked 99th) to a playoff berth in 2007 (ranked 33rd).
2010's Champs?
Just when you thought you'd seen the last of Hall of Famer Nate Mattison, a three-year player who led Byram Hills to the NAC title in 2006, then graduated ... now his sisters, twins Julia and Elizabeth, made their presence known as freshmen in 2007. Look for Byram Hills to make a bid for another championship season in 2010 (if not sooner). But consider also Jackson from West Virginia, making the playoffs in its rookie season with no sophomores, juniors, or seniors on the team! They'll feed into Parkersburg High, so watch out for Parkersburg in 2010.
John Germann Steps Down
He’s retiring, not from teaching, but from coaching the Houston Kinkaid Academic Challenge team. We’ve known John Germann since 1989, when he started bringing the Kinkaid team to the Texaco Star Academic Challenge in Houston. Beginning in 1995, he has brought the Kinkaid team every year to the first phase of Nationals (Dallas in 1995, New Orleans in 1996-2005, San Antonio in 2006-2007) – the only team to do so since Nationals split into multiple sites. Kinkaid has always been a contender at Nationals, making the playoffs in eleven of those thirteen years, a couple of times entering playoff day as the No. 1 seed. Mr. Germann is a history teacher, and his teams have perennially been hard to beat on social studies questions.
Loyce McKenzie and Laura Isbell Step Down
Madison Central High School in Madison, Mississippi, has competed at Nationals every year since 1985, with the exception of 1988, so they currently hold the record for number of years at the NAC. Loyce McKenzie served as head coach from 1989-1999, but continued to come to Nationals thereafter, assisting the new head coach, Laura “the Lifeline” Isbell. Under Isbell's leadership, Madison Central won several Mississippi tournaments every year, and at Nationals have been a perennial playoff contender. In 2001, Isbell and a group of students and teachers served as the “phone-a-friend” for another Madison Central student, Adam Edgell, as he won $250,000 on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Qualifying for 2008 Nationals
Keep in mind that all 2007 playoff teams have automatically qualified for NAC XXVI. Return to our web site in September, when our free "Twenty Questions" quiz returns and information on our next QuizNet will be posted. We will also provide details on next year's National Academic Championship.
WINNERS OF OUR 25 TOURNAMENTS
1983 -- Walt Whitman (Bethesda, MD) Return to QU home page
1984 -- Wheelersburg (Wheelersburg, OH)
1985 -- Skyline (Dallas, TX)
1986 -- Irmo (Columbia, SC)
1987 -- Walnut Ridge (Columbus, OH)
1988 -- Eleanor Roosevelt (Greenbelt, MD)
1989 -- Dorman (Spartanburg, SC)
1990 -- Collegiate (Richmond, VA)
1991 -- Dorman (Spartanburg, SC)
1992 -- Booker T. Washington (Tulsa, OK)
1993 -- Torrey Pines (San Diego, CA)
1994 -- East Brunswick (NJ)
1995 -- Governor's School (Richmond, VA)
1996 -- Houston Memorial (TX)
1997 -- Edison (Huntington Beach, CA)
1998 -- State College Area (PA)
1999 -- James Island (SC)
2000 -- Manheim Township (PA)
2001 -- Irmo (Columbia, SC)
2002 -- Irmo (Columbia, SC)
2003 -- Horace Greeley (Chappaqua, NY)
2004 -- St. Thomas (St. Paul, MN)
2005 -- Holland Hall (Tulsa, OK)
2006 - Byram Hills (Armonk, NY)
2007 - Harrison (West Lafayette, IN)