BHS Academic Team Wins the Tournament

BHS Academic Team Chugging Ahead Of The Competition

I always put on a suit and tie before the match.

— Mason Loeffler

On February 25th, Brunswick High School jumped for joy at the 42nd annual Frederick County Academic Team Tournament as they took their new trophy and plaque home. The team in the audience had their faces light up like the sun as they had realized they finally had won and the team on stage was too concentrated to even notice their own win—until they got off stage.

Moment of Triumph (Photo courtesy Dr. Dillman via Twitter)

The Academic Team Tournament is an annual occasion where students form teams with their own schools and compete against each other in trivia. The games are hosted at Frederick High School in the Auditorium every Friday from December to February. Every night there is a special round with a category that is chosen by the coaches that competing year. The students are given some time to study in preparation for these special rounds. These rounds can be anything the students or coaches suggest—the only limit is charisma.

I should probably not fail to mention I am on this team and not only am I on it, I was there on the night we won. The training and preparation a team does to prepare for this event is long and it really does take commitment. You’ll have to learn how to work with others and learn when to anticipate answers for questions. You won’t be able to nail it all down at first but with practice not only will you learn a lot of information, you’ll also be able to learn some skills for life. More simply said by our coaches,

“Academic team is a way of life, a lot of fun and it will expand your horizons.”—Mr. Kelly

“Academic team is one of the best things people can join, you can form different bonds and great memories.”—Señor (Louis Eskuchen)

While as a team we can celebrate our win, many of our members are graduating this year: Hannah Estep, Harrison Loeffler, Angela Miller, Andrew Ricketts, Quint Rymes, Justin Smallwood, Maggie Williams, and Sean Zsoldos. A lot of our strength was within these seasoned players and even though we are going to lose them, It’s the right time to look for new promising recruits.

If you have any questions about joining the team please ask Mr. Kelly in room 205.

Now I’d like to take this opportunity to appreciate everyone on the team: Jacob Winter (11), Isaac Hatch (11), Sophia Krasheninnikov (10), Parth Patel (9), Matt Porter (11), Zoe Razunguzwa (10), Elijah Shullenbarger (10), Nate Swyers (11), Paige Trendell (10), and Brandon Cruz (me, a junior). Hopefully, we get to see these members next year!

Lastly, but most importantly, I would like to thank our coaching staff and supporters but mostly: Señor (Louis Eskuchen) for being an amazing coach who was always able to have the much needed enthusiasm—have a happy belated birthday!