The It’s Academic team once again reached playoff competition this year, but lost to St. Albans high school.
While the team failed to move on from the playoffs, they still performed well despite setbacks mostly pertaining to membership.
“We had some trouble finding new members,” junior Ashley Sova said. “This was a problem because we needed to start building up a younger team. We lost last year’s seniors, and we are losing more people this year.”
As so much of the team has relied on the classes of 2013 and 2014, the team has been trying its best to prepare for coming years.
“I think this that this year’s just kind of been a rebuilding year for us,” said senior Jonathan Leidenheimer, who was also a semifinalist in the U.S. History Bee competition this year.
At present, the team will be ready to compete next year; however, it is still seeking new members to fill its ranks.
“We still could use more people,” Sova said. “As of now we have four people—including myself—for next year, which is just enough to fill a team.”
Not only did the team lose some valuable members, it was also subject to logistical issues that made it challenging to attend every possible competition.
“I think we got invited to both of the national competitions for Quiz Bowl,” Leidenheimer said. “We didn’t have the time or the money to go, which was unfortunate.”
Looking forward, the team will still face challenging competition despite Marshall’s redistricting, as Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology remains in the same district.
“[There’s] no impact on competition – [it’s the] same as in past years,” team sponsor and mathematics teacher Melissa Nicholson said. “It generally means we won’t win conference or regionals.”
In addition to membership concerns, the team hopes to meet more often in the future to improve its chances at competition.
“Having meetings would allow … new members to practice the format of the questions which would allow our team to improve,” Sova said.