Next Year

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Next Year

Post by Adventure Temple Trail »

Well, the regular season and both nationals are over, so I thought I'd be the one to make this thread since no one seemed to mind. What are your thoughts, predictions, wild guesses, etc. about next year's high school field?
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Re: Next Year

Post by The Atom Strikes! »

The sophomores of State College and the all-non-graduating kids of Gov and Matt Jackson all put up superb performances at this year's NSC, and I would be very surprised if they are not similarly impressive in the future.
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Re: Next Year

Post by Kouign Amann »

A.B.C.D E.F. Godthaab wrote:The sophomores of State College and the all-non-graduating kids of Gov and Matt Jackson all put up superb performances at this year's NSC, and I would be very surprised if they are not similarly impressive in the future.
This, plus, Hunter also has a pretty young core to support them in the coming years, I believe.
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Re: Next Year

Post by Down and out in Quintana Roo »

Maggie Walker will be all kinds of ridiculous.

State College should be pretty amazing as well. As will Matt and GDS.

I feel like there are SO many teams losing invaluable seniors that i just have no idea how to rank them at this juncture. It's to the point where i can even see somebody like St. Anselm's really making waves in the DC area just because they didn't lose anyone.
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Re: Next Year

Post by The Atom Strikes! »

Prof.Whoopie wrote:
A.B.C.D E.F. Godthaab wrote:The sophomores of State College and the all-non-graduating kids of Gov and Matt Jackson all put up superb performances at this year's NSC, and I would be very surprised if they are not similarly impressive in the future.
This, plus, Hunter also has a pretty young core to support them in the coming years, I believe.
Indeed. These Westbrook Experiment-reading sophomores will probably deliver a masterful performance as well.
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Re: Next Year

Post by Sir Thopas »

A.B.C.D E.F. Godthaab wrote:
Prof.Whoopie wrote:
A.B.C.D E.F. Godthaab wrote:The sophomores of State College and the all-non-graduating kids of Gov and Matt Jackson all put up superb performances at this year's NSC, and I would be very surprised if they are not similarly impressive in the future.
This, plus, Hunter also has a pretty young core to support them in the coming years, I believe.
Indeed. These Westbrook Experiment-reading sophomores will probably deliver a masterful performance as well.
Please, give them some credit, they're freshmen.

On the other hand, I feel kind of bad for what I may be doing. One of our 8th graders wrote a bonus for next year's Prison Bowl on Hans Island/Lomonosov Ridge/Murmansk Rise. I am telling you this because it will be cut.
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Re: Next Year

Post by Whiter Hydra »

TJ is graduating all its A team, but the B team at PACE will probably take over the mantle of A team. They're all sophomores right now, and I have a feeling that they'll make great strides throughout the season. Of course, it's going to be hard to predict how well they'll do this early in the season.
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Re: Next Year

Post by Kouign Amann »

Sir Thopas wrote:
A.B.C.D E.F. Godthaab wrote:
Prof.Whoopie wrote:
A.B.C.D E.F. Godthaab wrote:The sophomores of State College and the all-non-graduating kids of Gov and Matt Jackson all put up superb performances at this year's NSC, and I would be very surprised if they are not similarly impressive in the future.
This, plus, Hunter also has a pretty young core to support them in the coming years, I believe.
Indeed. These Westbrook Experiment-reading sophomores will probably deliver a masterful performance as well.
Please, give them some credit, they're freshmen.

On the other hand, I feel kind of bad for what I may be doing. One of our 8th graders wrote a bonus for next year's Prison Bowl on Hans Island/Lomonosov Ridge/Murmansk Rise. I am telling you this because it will be cut.
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Re: Next Year

Post by at your pleasure »

On the other hand, I feel kind of bad for what I may be doing. One of our 8th graders wrote a bonus for next year's Prison Bowl on Hans Island/Lomonosov Ridge/Murmansk Rise. I am telling you this because it will be cut.
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Stuff like Westbrook(or any other harder college tournaments) ought to have warning from the Surgeon General: "Caution: Harder tournaments like this may badly skew high schooler's collective difficulty meters".
EDIT: Just to be topical, I'm not sure how Whitman will do next year. I will study, but beyond that it depends on what our new kids do this summer. I have reasonable hopes for some of them, not so much for others.
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Re: Next Year

Post by Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN) »

I wholely agree that those teams will all be making noise next year. I think the southeast will produce a good Dorman team - their B and C teams this year both are returning players, and they both had very good performances. Dorman B really knows some stuff, they could be in real contention by nationals season.I also read for Dunbar at both nationals, their B team put up a very good performance and they are returning lots of people for multiple years. They have a program that is willing to travel far, likes playing good questions, and has gotten big on writing, so they have a good future as well. I have no idea who on DCC is returning, but every year it seems like they are able to produce a team that is top 15 quality but not exactly in contention for a national title, so that may be the safe money again. It seems like Detroit Country Day will be the real returning power in Michigan, though, with Neil. Hopefully, DCD can make it out to PACE this year and square off at the other national championship. Illinois seems to be graduating all their best players from this year, so I don't know who from there will be their next top team. Same with Minnesota, Chaska loses Sam and EP loses some people, so I don't know who is returning that will be good. I have no idea who in California is returning either, other than Mission San Jose, who I've heard is into practicing ACF packets, and we all know that will breed success. I know they don't go to as many tournaments because they are in the bay, but based on preliminary glances they seem to be the team to beat. In Missouri I'm trying to disseminate how to improve on good questions, and it seems to have taken hold with a few teams here, so I'm hoping by the end of the year somebody can step up and say they are competitive. I have a good feeling about Clayton, a new team of Sophomores that I got into reading the archives in practice and caring about going to pyramidal quizbowl, writing questions, and the like, so they are my pick for most likely to improve to the point of making some noise at nationals out of anyone here, but we'll see what happens. I am excited for this year though, it should be a lot of fun to see the new results coming in, and I can't wait to staff nationals again.
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Re: Next Year

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My own thoughts follow, since I neglected to post them above. I'll start with DC/MD/VA, which I know best, and spread out, though my knowledge of other teams drops off after the East Coast.

One interesting thought I've had is that, for the first time in a while, there are more "super-quizbowlers" graduating from the high school game than there are to take their place. Guy, Daichi, Anurag, Ike Jose, Ben Geselowitz, Ben Cohen, Ian, Henry, Siva, Sam, Gazi, Todd, Freddy, etc. will all be gone, which makes the game of high school quizbowl a lot easier for those who remain (and a lot less intimidating for those newer players seeking to rise up the rankings). We seem to be moving from an age where individuals dominate their teams to an age where more teams with more balance are common again.

It seems like, in general, the DC/DE/MD/VA region is taking a major hit next year, and may lose its mantle of "model quizbowl region for the rest of the country to follow" with one outstanding team as a major exception.
VA:
- Maggie Walker: This team stands out, far and away, as the best team in the region, and it's not much of a stretch to say they'll be the best team in the nation if they so much as want to be. They return three great players - Sarah, Greg, and Tommy (who contributed to ACF Nationals as a sophomore this year!!) - and will easily clear fields left and right if no one rises up to stop them. Their only Achilles' heel seems to be hard science - but seeing as that's true for every other team in the area (except maybe TJ), it's not much of an Achilles' heel at all. My prediction is on them for both nationals in 2010.

-TJ: The TJ machine of old has basically fallen apart, but TJ B and TJ C has had some really dedicated, knowledgeable people when we played them in the past. My bet is that TJ A '10 won't look like the great TJs of old, but will hold its own and make lots of playoffs.

Other people on James Monroe seemed to be learning things quickly. It seems like their team will totally exist in the future.

DC:

-GDS: We'll probably look more like GDS '08 - dominated by one player with clear strengths and weaknesses, and still very capable of embarrassing losses - than GDS '09. Once our collective summer study binge is over, things may look up.

-St. Anselm's: In a lot of ways, St. Anselm's is the new Gonzaga - they're in the District proper, they're Catholic, and they're anchored by a strong individual (Aidan) with solid backup (Matt and co.) They're improving rapidly, and could be on par with GDS as the years go on.

-Gonzaga: This year is very much a rebuilding year for Gonzaga without Dan, Alex, or Paul Fontello, but at minimum the remaining Gonzaga guys seem to have fun and be dedicated.

Maryland:

-Whitman: Douglas is a very strong player in very specific categories. Though he'll probably win a lot of scoring awards, he'll need to bring back (and bring in) knowledgeable teammates if the afterglow from the Adam Marshall-Shantanu era is to survive.

-Blake: Isaac knows stuff. Will he learn more stuff? Will he go to lots of tournaments? The answers are uncertain.

-Walter Johnson: Much talk exists of the "shadow effect" in quizbowl, when excellent players overshadow good teammates. Daichi's absence will prove a lot about the talent level of the WJ team's remaining members. A lot of the regular guys seemed to know a lot when they showed up to tournaments - will they be back? I remember Kuo-Kai was getting scary in his own right when he sat next to Daichi and still put up 10-15 points a game...

-RM: A big wildcard. Despite their captain quitting, and then leaving, there seem to be people at RM who still like quizbowl, especially after the trauma of :chip: . Does what remains of the RM team want to rebuild itself and live up to the RMs of earlier this decade?

Delaware:
There are still only two major teams in Delaware, and this year one of them might not be named "Charter B".

Charter: Charter's A, B, and C-teams will all take a big hit when the class of '09 departs for good, but sheer strength of numbers and those good players who are returning (David Huang?) mean that a busload of Charter kids will still make an impact on the playoffs wherever they go. Regardless, this is Caesar Rodney's year to pull off that surprise win against Charter A if they want it badly enough.

Caesar Rodney: This bunch traveled widely this year, and won a few games against lesser teams after wild-card bids got them into both nationals. Though this year they proved to be decent-to-OK, they're not graduating anyone major and have another year to keep traveling. Trey already puts up impressive PPG - given the comparatively weaker national field and another year of study, he could prove to be the next notable player from Delaware faster than we think.


The Northeast will also be an interesting place. It seems to be getting more competitive as time goes on.

State College: These guys are the most visible threat to Maggie Walker on the national radar. Graham, David, Monica, et al. are all extremely talented and overlap in knowledge a ton - Ben's three teammates clearly outscored him at NSC, so it's looking like he won't be missed much. If they travel more than Gov does, they could unseat Gov as the most likely team to win Nationals.

Hunter: Lily Chen, York Chen, Maggie, and the rest of the class of '12 squad are becoming well-trained death machines in their own right, and they have an advantage over basically the entire circuit in the area of hard science. (Though, as Guy pointed out, they may have some issues with the regular-difficulty high school canon.) I shudder at the thought of how much they'll demolish competition in three years, let alone one!

Kellenberg: Kellenberg's B team impressed us with their knowledge at HSNCT, and their A-team has been close to the top in New York (i.e. second to Hunter) for a while now. I'm foreseeing a good Kellenberg team for next year.

It will be interesting to see if the existence of new players at Harvard and Brown will bring more teams from Massachusetts and Rhode Island into the circuit.

Thoughts about other regions:
In The South, Dorman is still going to be very strong, but the B-team this year doesn't seem to have already carved a spot for itself on the national circuit in the way that this year's B-squad did when they were juniors. When they stay down South, other teams should be able to compete with them. I'm not sure how much, because I don't know how much of Brookwood, Chattahoochee, Walton, or James Island is graduating, but those four should stay competitive.

Texas showed up pretty well at NAQT, with LASA tied for 7th. LASA is always impressive on NAQT - will they travel more and/or play on non-NAQT good questions more to prove it for sure?

I'm not sure what to think of the Great Lakes states - Michigan definitely has the remaining players from DCC and DCD (Neil Gurram); Minnesota and Illinois are more uncertain because their best players seem to have graduated, but Eden Prarie has some remaining people, I think.

California's best remaining team seems to be Santa Monica, who seem to be returning a few people that put up good powers at HSNCT, but again I don't know how things work out there.
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Re: Next Year

Post by Auroni »

I should point out that Torrey Pines with Steven has one full year left, and that they are practicing on HSAPQ/ACF stuff.
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Re: Next Year

Post by Down and out in Quintana Roo »

RyuAqua wrote:Delaware:
There are still only two major teams in Delaware, and this year one of them might not be named "Charter B".

Charter: Charter's A, B, and C-teams will all take a big hit when the class of '09 departs for good, but sheer strength of numbers and those good players who are returning (David Huang?) mean that a busload of Charter kids will still make an impact on the playoffs wherever they go. Regardless, this is Caesar Rodney's year to pull off that surprise win against Charter A if they want it badly enough.

Caesar Rodney: This bunch traveled widely this year, and won a few games against lesser teams after wild-card bids got them into both nationals. Though this year they proved to be decent-to-OK, they're not graduating anyone major and have another year to keep traveling. Trey already puts up impressive PPG - given the comparatively weaker national field and another year of study, he could prove to be the next notable player from Delaware faster than we think.
Thanks for the compliments, Matt. We're certainly going to try our darnedest.

You just spilled our big goal for the year: beat Charter A. I think we can... i dunno... we've never had a better shot than this upcoming year. We're just graduating Chris and that's it, and he kinda never really cared about quizbowl (and actively asked me why i did care so much), so we're kinda glad to be out that ancien regime of CR there. I know you always saw a different group of kids as our A Team, but it is Trey, Seth (taking Chris' place as the science/math guy), Alexa (freshman, generalist), and Ryan ("mop-up duty" as i call it)... i think it is the team you saw at Maryland in early May now that i think of it. Trey, Seth, and Ryan will all be seniors. Let's just say that our talent level absolutely collapses after this A Team, so unless Alexa becomes the best player in school history and can carry the team in 2010-2011 (not impossible, but not probable), this is our year.

EDIT: dumb typo
Last edited by Down and out in Quintana Roo on Mon Jun 08, 2009 11:22 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Next Year

Post by Matthew D »

I have watch Hoover all this year and I think that they did well in Chicago and I know they will have their entire A team back next year..this should be interesting since they finished 17th..
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Re: Next Year

Post by wexs883198215 »

I think it would be pretty hard to attribute my 10-15 ppg to Daichi overshadowing me. Most decent players who play with top players can certainly put up better showings than that.

By the virtue of having very very few teammates who actually want to get good at real quizbowl (most of the team dreams of glory on television or hearing their favorite sports team or band come up in practice), I guess I could score a decent number of points, but I have tremendous gaps of knowledge and probably can't even come close to Daichi's skill level at the end of his sophomore year at this point.
I guess next year will be tough.

There are a lot of teams losing great players, but most top programs have a solid foundation with plenty of people to at least adequately fill the gaps. We only have a pathetic 2 players that actually want to hear pyramidal questions during practice!

Well, I think it's pretty obvious I'm a little frustrated with my teammates. Oh well, there's always hope in recruiting...


EDIT: oh, by the way, isn't Doug graduating this year?
Last edited by wexs883198215 on Mon Jun 08, 2009 11:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Next Year

Post by Down and out in Quintana Roo »

It would be a shame, Kuo-Kai, if we didn't see you guys at lots of tournaments next year. You could still be really good if you put in the work, which i know you will individually. Hopefully your teammates will find out how much quizbowl is when you can get questions right, and maybe losing Daichi is actually a blessing in disguise (well, relatively...) as you might see some new players blossom. Just work hard, i know Walter Johnson can still be a team that can pull off some big wins.
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Re: Next Year

Post by master15625 »

This coming year is going to be a huge blow to Detroit Country Day School. We graduate 5 of the top 6 players in our school. Thankfully, we have people on our B team who are interested and hopefully they can help DCDS not be that bad of a team. So I am still looking forward to playing next year.

Detroit Catholic Central also has players ready to play (in other words, when it seems that one great graduating class leaves, another one just comes to replace it)

Maggie Walker I think still has everyone, which will be huge for them, as they were so darn good this year alone.

I don't know about other schools around the area, but it seems that DC/Virginia/Maryland area will still be a strong area.
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Re: Next Year

Post by Terrible Shorts Depot »

RyuAqua wrote:Ben's three teammates clearly outscored him at NSC, so it's looking like he won't be missed much.
Your are wrong! Ben is really, really, really good at quizbowl! Ben only put up 100 ppg at NSC. He was getting shadowed to no end. You saw what Ben and Graham did at Lit Singles; they obviously know similar stuff. I mean, you and those other dudes scored as much as Ian, but that doesn't mean you won't miss him.

On to predictions:

Gov, SC, Hunter, GDS, and TJ should all be fierce. Gov returns pretty much everything. SC loses Ben, which is a massive loss, but Graham is well on his way to being absolutely terrifying and Monica and David are very solid. Guy, Maggie, and Tony are graduating from Hunter, but lots and lots returns, led by Lily. Matt Jackson remains good at quizbowl. I was really impressed by the TJ sophomores at NSC after they ate our lunch. They showed considerable knowledge and even more willingness to learn.
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Re: Next Year

Post by master15625 »

I also forgot to say, I believe that Stephen Liu from Torrey Pines in California is also returning next year as he is a junior. He put up a great performance at this year's HSNCT and did extremely well at SCIENCE!. Torrey Pines could be a team to watch out for next year, especially if they come to a lot of tournaments.
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Re: Next Year

Post by wexs883198215 »

Thanks for the kind comments. I certainly hope people will realize that they need to study when we can no longer rely on Daichi for...everything.
la2pgh wrote:
RyuAqua wrote:Ben's three teammates clearly outscored him at NSC, so it's looking like he won't be missed much.
Your are wrong! Ben is really, really, really good at quizbowl!
I think none of us are saying Ben is not good at quizbowl. I think Matt just meant that the rest of the team can probably cover what he knew pretty well and won't be tremendously devastated by his departure.
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Re: Next Year

Post by Down and out in Quintana Roo »

la2pgh wrote:I was really impressed by the TJ sophomores at NSC after they ate our lunch. They showed considerable knowledge and even more willingness to learn.
This.

The TJ B team was pretty great (and also very chill) from what i saw on both weekends, so i look forward to seeing them stomp dozens of teams this upcoming year. They were very balanced (lowest scorer 27PPG, highest scorer 37 PPG) and probably would have beaten us handily if they had played us at NSC. Yeah that 4-11 record i think they had is really really deceptive as they played only awesome teams their last 8 games. They're gonna be pretty darn good pretty darn fast.
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Re: Next Year

Post by Diocletian »

Texas showed up pretty well at NAQT, with LASA tied for 7th. LASA is always impressive on NAQT - will they travel more and/or play on non-NAQT good questions more to prove it for sure?
LASA is returning its entire team. Though we will probably not travel too far in the regular season due to budgetary restraints, we will continue to attend ACF events (we hope to go to more than just fall next year) and are, barring some completely unforeseen circumstances, planning on going to NSC next year.
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Re: Next Year

Post by lagazzaladra »

We've got a long way to go before we can even think about competing against Gov, State College, Dorman, Hunter (as much credit Lily is getting, which she deserves, York is really good too), or GDS, and there are always teams that do suprisingly well (I predict Caesar Rodney, St. Anselms, RM, and Walter Johnson). Still, it'll be interesting to see how things go next year...
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Re: Next Year

Post by etchdulac »

Diocletian wrote:
RyuAqua wrote:LASA is always impressive on NAQT - will they travel more and/or play on non-NAQT good questions more to prove it for sure?
LASA is returning its entire team. Though we will probably not travel too far in the regular season due to budgetary restraints, we will continue to attend ACF events (we hope to go to more than just fall next year) and are, barring some completely unforeseen circumstances, planning on going to NSC next year.
Four of the five guys that LASA plays were only sophomores this year, right? You've certainly set a high standard, only dropping from tied-7th to tied-11th with such huge turnover from the previous year.

Hopefully, TQBA will be able to help you guys get battle-tested. I'm not really sure what to think of the field for next year; I know so little about our newcomers from St. Mark's, in particular.

Do you know any more specifics about your tournament schedule next year outside of our stuff?
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Re: Next Year

Post by Diocletian »

To keep from hijacking this thread, I'll respond to this in the Texas thread in the comparisons subforum.
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Re: Next Year

Post by ihavenoidea »

Bold prediction (or not?): Southside will beat Dorman at least once next season.
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Re: Next Year

Post by Down and out in Quintana Roo »

Good prediction, Zhao. Is Southside losing anyone? If so, whom? They pretty much pummeled us at NSC, as well as almost everyone else in that first bracket that had a bunch of good teams in it.
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Re: Next Year

Post by KoH »

Caesar Rodney HS wrote:Good prediction, Zhao. Is Southside losing anyone? If so, whom? They pretty much pummeled us at NSC, as well as almost everyone else in that first bracket that had a bunch of good teams in it.
We are losing Phong, but that's about it.

In South Carolina, Southside and Dorman should still be good, but it's a down year for the rest of the state. Nationally, Maggie Walker will be the team to beat, and State College and GDS will still be very competitive.
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Re: Next Year

Post by at your pleasure »

EDIT: oh, by the way, isn't Doug graduating this year?
You are not the first person to mistake me for a senior. Anyhow, this spring semester produced a lot of recruits, so a lot depends on how much studying our new recruits do over the summer.
Also, I think people are overlooking James Monroe. They impressed me when we played them at GSAC, so could do some interesting stuff this year.
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Re: Next Year

Post by Nuclear Densometer Test »

Caesar Rodney HS wrote:Good prediction, Zhao. Is Southside losing anyone? If so, whom?
Our A is losing Phong, however our top two scorers are still there. The captain of our B team is moving up to A and the rest of our B will still play with the addition of another junior. Thus making next year's A all seniors and B, 3 juniors and 1 senior.
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Re: Next Year

Post by AlphaQuizBowler »

My thoughts on the Southeast:
I don't see Dorman dominating as much as they have in the past years. Don't get me wrong, they have a good B team, but they won't be the unstoppable Dorman force they've been down in the South.

In Georgia, Walton, Brookwood, Chattahoochee, and Central Gwinnett (top 4 at GATA State) all lose their top scorers. Walton loses Gazi, but they have Kayhan and Abubakir, who I think can both step up and take their team places. Central Gwinnett has an impressive B-team player who could take Patrick's mantle. The Georgia scene looks to be interesting next year, with teams that don't have national exposure, like Centennial and Alpharetta, bringing back strong players and having a chance to be competitive.

In Alabama, if Hoover is indeed bringing back the whole team, they will dominate. That said, Brindlee Mountain was pretty good when we played them and could develop a strong team next year.

South Carolina: Much of the Southside team is returning. They are a very strong team, as evidenced by their placement at NSC. James Island and Dorman lose a lot of seniors, I'm pretty sure, but they have strong programs and will no doubt continue to be competitive.

Tennessee- Is Cody Simons coming back? If he does, MLK could be very good. Ezell-Harding JV made the finals of Brookwood JV, so they have potential.
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Re: Next Year

Post by master15625 »

Cody Simons is a junior, so he most likely is coming back.
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Re: Next Year

Post by Nine-Tenths Ideas »

Lessee, DC Metro area, since that's what I know-
Maggie Walker: Everyone has stated that they will be awesome next year. This is true.
St. Anselm's: Aidan was really, really impressive for a freshman last year. If he keeps things at the rate he is going, St. Anselm's will be nationally competitive before the end of next year.
GDS: Matt was almost equalling Ian in PPG by the end of the year, and having played GDS B twice recently, I can say that they surprised me with what they knew, and seem eager to learn more.
TJ: TJ B beat us at the end of the year, and I can't make the "undermanned argument" because the team was equivalent to what it will be next year. They're contenders.
Whitman: Whitman will still have Doug, but Whitman's quality will really depend on the strength of Doug's support.
WJ: I think that Kuo-Kai and Ophir and a few of the others can have a decent season.
Charter: Charter will always have a good team.
Caesar Rodney: Nobody goes to as many tournaments as these guys. And they keep getting better.
State College: Definitely still competitive with Graham and the others.
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Re: Next Year

Post by Terrible Shorts Depot »

Isn't JM graduating Wo, Matt, and Chuhern? I've never seen their B team, but this year's A team was very good, so that's definitely a lot to lose.
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Re: Next Year

Post by Gautam »

For people interested in Minnesota QB, Eden Prairie is only graduating Sam Daub, so the 4 remaining people who played on EP A at HSNCT are returning. Also, Martin Camacho of the St. Paul Central team that was at the PACE NSC is returning, afaik. He has been pretty good at local tournaments, and will continue to get better over the next year.

I know that some members of the Chaska contingent are returning. Also, if I am not mistaken, everybody on Minnetonka (minus Alex Friedman) is returning.

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Re: Next Year

Post by Matthew D »

Cody S told me that the entire MLK team are juniors so they should all be back...
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Re: Next Year

Post by The King's Flight to the Scots »

Maybe this won't matter next year, per se, but TJ could get better than they ever were within the next 4+ years. Longfellow MS, which feeds select kids into TJ, has been sending a quizbowl team to legitimate tournaments (and :chip: ) around the area. Depending on how they're being coached (and from what I've heard, Mr. Huang is at least a great teacher), these kids could have a fairly solid knowledge base before even entering 9th grade; if they stick with it till senior year, we could have another TJ '05 on our hands.
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Re: Next Year

Post by intothenegs »

la2pgh wrote:Isn't JM graduating Wo, Matt, and Chuhern? I've never seen their B team, but this year's A team was very good, so that's definitely a lot to lose.
Indeed- Wo, Matt, and I are graduating. Dylan Vasey is the only member of this year's A team who will still be around next year, although JM returns 3/4 of the players Doug saw at GSAC (which was basically our B team that played HAVOC). Dylan's pretty good at this quizbowl idea, but he's only been able to play two tournaments so far; I know JM's team certainly seems interested in doing well again next year, so I guess we'll see how JM turns out. I don't see JM being nationally competitive, but at the state level they might do decently.

As far as nationally competitive teams go:

Maggie Walker is my pick to be the most dominant team in the nation next year. They were already amazing this year, and as Tommy, Greg, and Sarah get better, they'll be terrifying.

State College- Graham scares me with lit knowledge, Monica knows a lot of science, and David's strong too. Losing Ben will hurt, but the rest of the team is good enough that it won't sink them.

GDS is going to be good, too. Matt Jackson is already an amazing player; if his teammates pitch in a bit more, GDS could be as good next year as they were this year.

Dorman- This year's B team impressed me at GSAC, although it'll be hard for them to top what Todd and Freddy have done.

Hunter- Lily Chen is good at quizbowl.

DCD- I've never seen them play, but they've done well at NAQT and return Neil, so they'll probably be good again.

Whitman will have Doug and will remain good.

Southside- incredibly good when I played them at PACE.

St. Anselm's- impressed me when I played them at RAPPoff, impressed me again when I read for them at MATT. Matt is good, and Aidan is incredible for a freshman.

Thomas Jefferson- Not having Naren will set them back quite a bit, but this year's B team seems set on repeating past successes. Like St. Anselm's, they've gone from being decent to being really good in the past six months.

Walter Johnson- I'm not sure how they'll do, but I think they'll still be much better than decent as KK comes out of Daichi's shadow.
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Re: Next Year

Post by ClemsonQB »

AlphaQuizBowler wrote:South Carolina: Much of the Southside team is returning. They are a very strong team, as evidenced by their placement at NSC. James Island and Dorman lose a lot of seniors, I'm pretty sure, but they have strong programs and will no doubt continue to be competitive.
Dorman's A team this year consisted of four seniors, who will of course be gone next year. The B team featured two juniors (Gregory and Masuma) and two sophomores (Mariya and Sydney). The C team was mainly sophomores, but I think they brought a freshman to tag along at the NSC.
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Re: Next Year

Post by cvdwightw »

At this point, there's only two teams from Southern California to really look out for nationally.

Torrey Pines returns Stephen, who is just going to be a beast. However, they lose their clear #2 player in Vivek. Their younger players made some nice strides this year, and this is a team that's genuinely interested in learning stuff, so they're definitely going to improve. I'm not sure that they're going to get to the level of this year's Rancho Bernardo team, but they've certainly got the potential.

Santa Monica returns 70% of their scoring from a team that constantly challenged Rancho Bernardo on IS questions. Their questions are simply: who's going to replace Marino, and can they get that good at the next difficulty level? This team doesn't fall victim to the trash effect that NAQT sometimes produces, so they're not going to have one of those rounds where an anomalously high proportion of non-academic stuff really hurts them; at this point, they're probably a second-tier or third-tier team nationally, but if they can get the academic knowledge to hang with the bottom-first-tier/top-second-tier teams, that immunity will help them spring some upsets on the way to a high HSNCT finish.
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Re: Next Year

Post by STPickrell »

ColJade wrote:Maybe this won't matter next year, per se, but TJ could get better than they ever were within the next 4+ years. Longfellow MS, which feeds select kids into TJ, has been sending a quizbowl team to legitimate tournaments (and :chip: ) around the area. Depending on how they're being coached (and from what I've heard, Mr. Huang is at least a great teacher), these kids could have a fairly solid knowledge base before even entering 9th grade; if they stick with it till senior year, we could have another TJ '05 on our hands.
But if they don't get into TJ, Longfellow also feeds into McLean and Langley (more so the former I'm guessing from looking at a map). The former has rarely been a contender even locally, but the latter has fielded several solid teams, including one that placed 4th at states a couple years back. Even one or two of the Longfellow alums could help Langley at least keep up with TJ in a couple of years.
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Maggie Walker Next Year

Post by Tower Monarch »

With everybody doing deep enough analysis to look at Longfellow for TJ's future, I'm surprised no one has realized that Maggie Walker is allowed to play with 4 people.
The NSC B team, who I respect very much (and who, looking at their performance against Cosby, obviously has the ability to "upset"), consisted of 1 senior, 1 junior, 1 sophomore and 1 freshman. The sophomore, J.R., led the team in scoring, had 8 powers (and, as he has yet to adapt to quizbowl, these were usually first or second line powers) and will likely be able to put up 10+ PPG even alongside Greg (with whom he overlaps the most) and Tommy. Stephen, J.R.'s younger brother, will likely lead the B team in scoring unless Eric, the junior, or Ted (another rising junior who didn't play much this year but stayed somewhat active for their club) beats him to it.
The bottom line is, yes, the MW A team will still rely on Greg and Tommy each putting up 100+ PPG, but I think the nation already respects Sarah's gap-filling knowledge yet tends to forget the huge competition for the 4th spot. Also, for people who remember the 07-08 B team and/or read my signature, there is one person at Maggie Walker who might be talked into filling the science void faster than Tommy can (nevermind the consistent biology buzzes from Sarah and Greg).
On another, lesser note, I expect Cosby to surprise people in two years (probably not next year, but maybe) with likely a one-person driven team thanks to Riley (sure TJ and Hunter freshman might look through ACF Nats+, but she takes notes on CO for hours each week!). Also, James River (yet to be seen by the nation) is interested in joining this practice program.
I agree with what seems to be a consensus that the national field will be overall weaker next year, but I think the number of programs capable of producing a competitive team out of nowhere (as everybody expects DCC to do) has increased, so names like James Monroe and even Cosby might be seen more than you think in 2-3 years.
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Re: Next Year

Post by TheKingInYellow »

My prediction for next year's HSNCT:

Maggie Walker thrashes Matt Jackson and GDS in three games across the weekend, but, during the fourth game, on an improbable last minute buzz, Matt carries GDS to victory, and they win the tournament
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Re: Next Year

Post by master15625 »

TheKingInYelliow wrote:My prediction for next year's HSNCT:

Maggie Walker thrashes Matt Jackson and GDS in three games across the weekend, but, during the fourth game, on an improbable last minute buzz, Matt carries GDS to victory, and they win the tournament
Or maybe it is just a last minute buzz, not necessarily improbable. Or maybe with State College as one of those teams mentioned.

Some more predictions:

I really think it will be Maggie Walker, State College who takes the top two spots, in no particular order. In fact, I think they each will split the national tournaments. I know that GDS is good, but will the studying binge over the summer really make them a top 2 team, especially after the loss of Ian Eppler? We will find out. I still know that GDS will be a great contender at both national tournaments as well.

I think next year's HSNCT is going to be less competitive, with fewer games where the difference is fewer than 20 points. I observed so many scores where there were tiebreakers, 5 points, 10 points, and a bunch of 15 points. That won't happen a lot next year.
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Re: Next Year

Post by Adventure Temple Trail »

master15625 wrote: I know that GDS is good, but will the studying binge over the summer really make them a top 2 team, especially after the loss of Ian Eppler? We will find out.
This. I sort of had a "lol wut" reaction to Graham's post, as much as I'd like for that to happen...
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Re: Next Year

Post by master15625 »

RyuAqua wrote:
master15625 wrote: I know that GDS is good, but will the studying binge over the summer really make them a top 2 team, especially after the loss of Ian Eppler? We will find out.
This. I sort of had a "lol wut" reaction to Graham's post, as much as I'd like for that to happen...
I hope I didn't upset you with my comment. I thought I was just stating my opinion in a nonconfrontational way. I don't understand what you mean by "This", which is why I think you are mad at me.
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Re: Next Year

Post by Adventure Temple Trail »

master15625 wrote:
RyuAqua wrote:
master15625 wrote: I know that GDS is good, but will the studying binge over the summer really make them a top 2 team, especially after the loss of Ian Eppler? We will find out.
This. I sort of had a "lol wut" reaction to Graham's post, as much as I'd like for that to happen...
I hope I didn't upset you with my comment. I thought I was just stating my opinion in a nonconfrontational way. I don't understand what you mean by "This", which is why I think you are mad at me.
By "this", I meant "exactly what the above poster said" - so I'm not offended; I was pointing out that you're probably right! As much as I'd like to win HSNCT, it'll take a lot of heavy lifting for us to beat Maggie Walker even at the last tossup.
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Re: Next Year

Post by TheKingInYellow »

Haha sorry, I was just replacing Dorman with MW and Henry/Charter with you/GDS... more directed at this year than next

Hopefully that'll clear things up
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Re: Next Year

Post by aestheteboy »

Dorman "thrashing" Charter three times in a row is not an accurate description of what happened this year . . . but yeah, my prediction is that, uh, Gov will be #1 and SC will be #2 and everyone else will be pretty much irrelevant in terms of national title.
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Re: Next Year

Post by Rufous-capped Thornbill »

Ohio will be down this year even without the loss of Ike Jose. However, with him graduating we don't have anyone or any team that can legitimately compete with the big boys at the national level besides maybe Ottawa Hills at the small school level, who only loses one player from their A team.

The fact is that until teams from Ohio commit to working as hard and traveling as much as Ike did by himself, they will simply not compete consistantly on a national level. Walnut Hills and Solon will continue to be strong, but Solon doesn't have another Noah this year, and Walnut loses their best player from last year. They'll still be very strong, just nothing on the level of Maggie Walker, DCC, State College, etc.
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