Scholastic Bowl
Mason
Sweeps Regionals, 4-0;
Heads to States Tomorrow
By
Margaret Lipman (February 25, 2005)
Two weeks
after winning the
Bull Run District Tournament, the George Mason Scholastic Bowl team won
an even
more decisive victory at the Region B Tournament on Saturday, February
12. Along with second place Luray High School, the Mustangs will represent Region B in the
Single A State competition at the College of William and Mary on Saturday, February 26th.
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Surprisingly,
Mason had, on
average, a significantly larger margin of victory in its four matches
at the
Regional Tournament than at Districts. In
the first match against Luray High School, Mason won 210-80. The
next match featured the Mustangs against Altavista High School and
was again won by Mason 270 – 40. The
third game was between Mason and William Campbell High School and
resulted in another strong win for the Mustangs 230 – 70.
The final game of the tournament once again
was between Mason and Luray. Because of
the competition’s double elimination format, the latter school had
advanced
back into the finals by winning in the bracket of teams that had lost a
game. Mason then proceeded to win the
match – and the Regional title -- 210 – 60.
The
team was
led by senior
captain Alex Douglas (who once again proved to be an integral part of
the team),
as well as senior Dan McDonald and sophomore Margaret Lipman. Freshman
Peter Davis, junior Bjorn Westergard, senior Casey Smirniotopoulos and
the rest
of the Scholastic Bowl team also helped propel Mason to victory. In true Scholastic Bowl style, the questions
ranged from the Golden Number to the Battle of Austerlitz, from flying
ace
Eddie Rickenbacker to author Joyce Kilmer, and from actor Kevin Bacon
to media
mogul Ted Turner.
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Members of the Scholastic Bowl team engage
in
intense practice in preparation for tomorrow’s
upcoming state finals. The team had a surprisingly
easy time of it in the regional competitions, winning
all four of their matches to proceed to the
championship, which will take place at The College of
William and Mary. Mason is hoping to win its third
state championship over the past four years.
(Photo by: Margaret Lipman) |
Much
of the
Mason team was
surprised at the high scores they had achieved at this level of
competition. The team appeared ready to
head to Williamsburg on Friday, February 25 for the following
day’s State
competition, in which the Mason team won second place last year. In the previous two years, the Mustangs were
State champions. This year, the Mustangs
will vie against seven rival teams for that title -- Region B second
place
winner Luray High School and
the winners and runners-up from the Single A
Regional Tournaments in the
other three Virginia regions.
