Longfellow Middle School Quiz Bowl
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2015-16. Longfellow Nearly Wins a National Double
The 2015-16 LMS quiz bowl team had a chance to become legendary in the history of LMS quiz bowl, but alas, it wasn't meant to be as Longfellow came in 2nd place in dramatic fashion at both the MSNCT and inaugural USABB finals.
At the beginning of the year, Mr. Huang searched for a complement to Justin Young, and he found it in William Wang who improved by leaps and bounds over the summer. Seventh graders Jake Shue and Lucia Rathke rounded out A team.
The B team was led by 8th graders Owen Nguyen, Sabrina Cai and Robert Chitic-Patapievici and 7th grader Alan Qi.
The first sign that 2015-16 might be a special year was winning 1st place at Centennial's fall tournament, beating the northeast powerhouse Middlesex in the finals. At Manheim Township without Justin Young, Longfellow still made the finals behind the leadership of William Wang but were soundly defeated by Middlesex.
At MSNCT in Atlanta, Longfellow and Middlesex both set themselves apart from the field, but Longfellow did have a scare against St. Anselm's of DC who unexpectedly went to a 200 point lead at halftime. Justin Young went on a tear in the 2nd half and Longfellow squeaked by. Middlesex went undefeated well into the playoffs until Longfellow gave them their first defeat. Longfellow had already lost early in the playoffs to Churchill, so when both teams met again in the finals, they each had one loss.
The match was very close, but Middlesex seemed to have the advantage, maintaining a 30-90 point lead throughout. After a Longfellow timeout with only a few questions left, a Middlesex neg, a save from Young and a timely power from Jake Shue put Longfellow within one question of taking the lead with one tossup remaining. Middlesex called their timeout, heightening the tension in the ballroom.
The final tossup was a history question, Justin's specialty, but the Middlesex captain buzzed very early on the clue---Lombards, and answered correctly---Charlemagne. Middlesex had their first MSNCT championship in the first-ever finals between east coast teams.
At the USABB finals, Longellow and Middlesex met again, and again it came down to the final question on ancient Greek playwrights. Justin buzzed early but guessed Euripides when the question asked for Sophocles. Two 2nd place finishes for Longfellow in 2015-16, statistically, Longfellow's best year ever.
Results:
USABB
Gallery
