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The 33rd annual championship featured the academic team from Amherst Marion L. Steele seeking its third Scholastic Games championship versus the Lake Ridge Academy team seeking to tie the all-time record of five championships, which would be its third consecutive title. Team members are listed below.
Another record on the line is that for “Standout Scholar” awards. On every program a student is recognized as the individual who “contributed the most to his or her team” with includes $50 and a certificate. When teams return for playoffs, the same student is eligible to win additional times, and in all of that person’s high school years. The all-time record is eight such awards, which only three students have achieved in the programs first thirty-two years. Entering this championship, each of the teams has a team captain who has won seven so far. Will one of them tie the record? Listen and find out. The contenders are Amherst’s John Perez-Strohmeyer and Lake Ridge’s Finn Pasatta. Rounding out the championship teams, Lake Ridge Academy was represented by Ayaan Siddiqi (l) and Nate Barens (r), and for Amherst Steele, the other team members were Donald Theisen (l) and Mark Vitelli (obscured in photo). An interview with the winning team follows the quiz program.