Teams on the rise for next year?

[Hypersmart]

What are some underdogs or teams you think could be big 2018-19?

[kiwikoalabear]

I’m only familiar with teams in northern Virginia, but here are my two cents --

1. McLean - Justin Young remains one of nation’s top history players, and possesses enormous depth. Although he isn’t nearly as dominant on other categories, some studying over the summer and more generalization will make McLean a scary team come fall. I expect Justin to comfortably make top bracket at local tournaments. If he can find teammates to cover the holes, then I expect McLean to make a deep run at nationals.

2. Langley - Dan and Selena have good coverage of science and literature, respectively. Speaking from personal experience at NASAT, they also have solid depth, scaling very well. If Langley continues their current trajectory and improve as much as they did last year, there’s no doubt that they will be a formidable team.

3. Champe - I was very impressed with Champe at VHSL super regionals last year! They had many deep buzzes, and from my impressions, were a well-balanced team. Although they did not attend a tournaments outside of VHSL last year, I am certain that if next year’s team is anywhere close to the quality of last year’s, Champe will have no issues transitioning. Definitely a team to watch.

4. Robinson - Though they lose Jacob Augelli, Robinson has a lot of young talent. That combined with their state championship pedigree means they could do quite well next season.

These are the teams I could think of off the top of my head -- there are surely teams missing with great potential. There's a lot of opportunity to improve over the summer, so I'm excited to see the developments next season!

[Hypersmart]

I have to say for us, we lost all of our seniors, who were the leading scorers on our team, in addition to our coach. Potential competitiveness isn't really in the cards for us. But who knows.

[Abdon Ubidia]

Though I don't know much about their skill, it seems like Wootton is finally making the transition to being a good quizbowl school.

[Howemilton]

I think Wootton's two best players graduated, so I am expecting they will be weaker. However, Arnav is certainly a good player, and I'm hoping they do well next year.