On April 12th, CCHS senior Vee Blase and sophomore Theo Kintzel traveled to Chicago to participate in the National Academic Quiz Tournaments’ Individual Player National Championship Tournament. They were joined by Alyssa Murphy, who teaches English at CCHS and has coached the scholar bowl team since its inception two years ago.

At the tournament, players answered questions about a variety of topics, including literature, science, fine arts, history, and pop culture and sports.

Both of CCHS’s players placed in the top 250 at the tournament. It was the first time CCHS’s scholar bowl program went to this tournament.

Ms. Murphy said about the experience, “I felt like it was a win before we even left. I’m just so proud of how the program has developed, because we’re only in our second year.”

In addition to the individual national tournament, the team also competed in Conference and Districts in April. At Districts, they came in 2nd, which allowed them to qualify for NAQT’s team national championship as well.

Although CCHS won’t be able to send the team to nationals this year on such short notice, Ms. Murphy is still proud of the progress the team has made during the past year. In particular, she said, “I think it’s really wonderful that we have such a diverse group of students who do so many different things and all come together to compete in academic competition.”

This diverse team base allows the team to thrive in many different categories while also growing as individuals, students, and teammates.