Cookeville High School - Cookeville, Tennessee

Finishing off the year as State Champs

Kristen Mtichell , Co-Editor-in-Chief

The Brain Whizzes have done it again. On March 15&16th the Cavalier Academic team competed in the annual Tennessee State Quiz Bowl competition. Placing first place out of the fourteen teams that competed, the Cavaliers were the only undefeated team at the tournament.

The tournament started on Friday night and continued to Saturday. It was a round robin tournament, where each team had to play all fourteen teams at the competition.

The team’s closest match was against the former state champions, Riverdale High School, with a final score of 440-370. The Cavs scored no less than 400 points per round.

“We were thrilled to win the state tournament. We were at the top of our game scoring 7,805 points, which is tne most points ever scored by any team at the state tournament. We have worked hard all year, and we deserved this win,” says Academic Team Coach Carolyn Hawkins.

Hawkins continues, “The team was under alot of pressure, but they kept their focus and composure. They really showed their maturity throughout the tournament.”

Since the state tournament the A-team has competed in three more tournaments finishing successfully. At Vanderbilt the team placed third overall, losing in the semifinals on a protest, and winning first place in the WCTE television tournament, which can be seen on the local Cookeville station.

Finishing the year with a big bang, on April 13th the Cavalier team won first place at the University of Chattanooga out of twenty-five teams from all over. The Academic team finished the year with a win/loss record of 132/10.

This year the Academic team will lose eight seniors, but will still have a very strong team for next year.

“It takes committment and learning your material. This is a competition team, and students are given the chance to play as often as possible,” says Hawkins.

Any students who think they would be interested in trying out for the team, even if you are just interested in a specific area, should contact Carolyn Hawkins. Tryouts will be in May for all interested students.