By Sarah Blechacz and Praveen Balaji
Students from Corona del Sol joined 303 of the top high school quiz bowl teams at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis on May 27 for the 2017 High School National Championship Tournament.
The team consisted of Harrison Bradley, Daniel Farr, Denis Liu, Vinay Pattalachinti and Sameer Vij.
Corona was one of five Arizona teams competing, finishing the preliminary rounds with a 5-5 record. There were some tense moments. Corona suffered a heartbreakingly narrow loss to Marist from Atlanta, Ga., 190-175, during round 6 and defeated Detroit Catholic Central D from Novi, Mich., by the narrow margin of 245-225 during round 13. Corona was on the brink of elimination when it defeated Detroit Catholic Central D in round 13 to stay alive. Unfortunately, they lost to Midtown Classical from Tallahassee, Fla., ending their shot at the playoffs.
The tournament champion was the A team from Hunter College High School of New York, New York.
Quiz bowl is a competitive, academic, interscholastic activity for teams of four students. Teams use buzzers to answer questions about science, math, history, literature, mythology, geography, social science, current events, sports and popular culture.
The matches feature a blend of individual competition and team collaboration, since no individual player is likely to be an expert in all subject areas. Participation in quiz bowl is designed to reinforce lessons from the classroom and encourage players to develop new intellectual interests.
Sarah Blechacz coaches the Corona team and Praveen Balaji is the club president.
