New year, new post!
Two weeks ago, Livingston High School held their first novice tournament on the PSACA set. Congratulations to everyone who attended, especially those who played quiz bowl for the first time ever! The future of New Jersey quiz bowl has already commenced.
Here are some highlight performances:
Millburn A had an incredible day, going on to sweep the tournament 11-0. Millburn topped the tournament in both points per game and points per bonus across all teams in the tournament, and their top scorer Sachin Sachay was the third top individual scorer overall.
East Brunswick also performed incredibly well. Their A team and B team placed 2nd and 4th in the tournament respectively and both averaged over 300 points per game.
Hightstown A placed 3rd in the tournament after defeating East Brunswick B in their crossover game. Their team had a very balanced points distribution that was also reflected by their points per bonus stat, the 3rd highest in the tournament.
Other standout performances include Ridgewood A, led by Aidan Dartley, who was the top scorer in the whole tournament and dropped games only to the two East Brunswick teams. Tower Hill also performed very well, reaching the playoff bracket despite being comprised of 1 player, 2nd overall scorer Max Neal. River Dell A also went on to sweep the top consolation bracket in the afternoon.
In the end, all 36 teams that competed at Livingston should be commended. For many of them, this was their first exposure to high school quiz bowl ever, and their efforts in preparing and competing over the course of 10 rounds should not be understated. No matter how your results compared to your prior expectations, be proud of any bit of knowledge and sportsmanship that you demonstrated at Livingston, and look forward to what more you can show in future tournaments.
Livingston will be hosting another regular difficulty (as opposed to novice difficulty) tournament on March 21st. Another novice tournament on the RAMS 2 set will be held at Rutgers University on March 14th. Best of luck at all future tournaments, and we hope to see everyone around the circuit!
Finally, a huge thank you to all of the veteran players and staffers who helped make the tournament run as smoothly as it did!
By Nick Zhang, Teterboro