This weekend, 11 teams will be representing Southern California at NAQT’s High School National Championship Tournament in Atlanta, Georgia. The following weekend in Reston, Virginia, seven teams from SoCal will be competing at the National Scholastic Championship hosted by the Partnership for Academic Competition Excellence (PACE). The table below provides a quick summary of the two national competitions.
| HSNCT | NSC |
|---|---|
|
|
As HSNCT and PACE NSC quickly approach, here’s a preview of what to expect:
Arcadia A (HSNCT, Morlan 46)
Arcadia A took first place at Triton Pre-Nats on Sunday, however, they lost a few crucial games against strong teams including CCA A and Irvine. On the bright side, their consistent performance all of this season should benefit them greatly at HSNCT. Humanities specialist Andrew Hoagland (11) continues to dominate, and with everyone on the team having competed at nationals before, they have great potential to move far into playoffs.
Predictions: 8-2 prelims, 3-2 playoffs
Arcadia B (HSNCT, unranked)
Arcadia B retains two players from last year’s nationals squad, so they have the needed experience to perform well at HSNCT. On the flip side, they seem to face challenges with consistency that will be difficult to iron out by Saturday. Arcadia B would have to step up their game in order to make it into the playoffs.
Prediction: 4-6 prelims
Canyon Crest A (HSNCT, NSC, Morlan 2)
After two strong performances during UCSD’s wonderful weekend of quizbowl, Canyon Crest A demonstrates a great depth of knowledge per usual. They have swept the field at multiple tournaments this season, often defeating local college teams as well. Jeffrey Qiu (12) and Daniel Wang (12) cover a lot of ground for NSC, and with Boopala Arul (12) and Alan Zhu (11), they will also have the needed coverage for HSNCT. Consistently ranking in the top 5 nationally, we can expect to see Canyon Crest winning some big games at HSNCT and NSC.
Prediction (HSNCT): 9-1 prelims, 4th finish
Prediction (NSC): 7-0 prelims, 5-0 playoffs, 2nd finish
Canyon Crest B (HSNCT, NSC, Morlan 51)
With the full team having competed at nationals last year, CCA B definitely stands out. Wesley Zhang (10) has made great strides this year becoming the team’s lead scorer with Raymond Song (10) not far behind. Their depth of knowledge has increased from last year, giving them an edge coming into nationals this weekend.
Prediction (HSNCT): 7-3 prelims, 1-2 playoffs
Prediction (NSC): 4-3 prelims
Irvine (HSNCT, Morlan 45)
Irvine did an impressive job again this season. Generalist Shripad Badithe (12) and science player Andy Huang (12) have led their team to many victories this season. With Celina Shen (10) and Justin Chen (12) joining the nationals squad this year, they still have the depth and knowledge they have had the past few years. Irvine will certainly be a very strong contender, and I’m sure the prelims will be no problem for them.
Prediction: 6-4 prelims, 1-1 playoffs
North Hollywood (HSNCT, Morlan 80)
Despite bringing what seems to be a different fourth scorer (or none at all) to each tournament, North Hollywood still manages to rank well with its three main players. Brandon Hong (11) has made impressive improvements this season to lead the team, yet they will still be in need of some extra depth of knowledge to defeat top teams this weekend. Whether North Hollywood does well in the playoffs or not will depend on the performance of Ronen Lee (11) and Hansub Kim (12).
Prediction: 6-4 prelims, 1-1 playoffs
Olympian A (HSNCT, Morlan 87)
Olympian as a whole is a very underrated team. They bring in a fantastic power percentage with minimal negging. On the other hand, the full team hasn’t played a tournament together in at least a couple of months, but hopefully that shouldn’t be too big of a problem. As Eddie Kim mentioned last year though, their strengths in literature may not be enough to outweigh their gap in science knowledge, as NAQT does have a hefty science distribution. Overall, they are one talented team and I am optimistic about them making it into the playoffs.
Prediction: 6-4 prelims, 1-1 playoffs
Olympian B (HSNCT, Morlan 145)
Similar to Olympian A, Olympian B is very consistent and I can definitely see them doing well at nationals this year. With their B team not far behind their A team, I can see them doing almost as well as their A team. Olympian appears to change their roster for each tournament, but, in general, the main difference between their A and B team is that their B team negs more, which could be costly. Regardless, I still think Olympian B has the potential to make it into the playoff rounds this weekend.
Prediction: 6-4 prelims, 0-1 playoffs
San Dieguito Academy (NSC, Morlan 134)
San Dieguito Academy’s lead scorer Klaus Neyer (12) never fails to lead his team to a successful tournament, and with valuable science player Rokas Veitas (12), SDA will definitely be a powerhouse. San Dieguito is perhaps one of the most consistent teams with very few negs and an always solid PPB, but it will take a little more than that to get them through the playoffs.
Prediction: 5-2 prelims, 1-4 playoffs
Santa Monica A (HSNCT, Morlan 122)
Santa Monica A made a strong showing at IHOP earlier this season, so they could probably make it into the top half of the field just like last year. Based off of the few tournaments they played this season, they have improved from last season, so I feel positive about them making an appearance in the playoff rounds. If Santa Monica is able to attend more tournaments, they have such a high potential of becoming a dominant team in SoCal in the future.
Prediction: 6-4 prelims, 0-1 playoffs
Santa Monica B (HSNCT, unranked)
Somewhat similar to Troy, there are not very many stats for me to base my predictions off of for Santa Monica B, but from the stats that are out there, things are looking relatively grim for them. SCT is understandably somewhat more challenging than a regular IS set, but they still struggled this season at SoCal State Champs. With more experience, they could become a stronger team in future years.
Prediction: 1-9 prelims
Scripps Ranch (HSNCT, unranked)
For the last couple of years, generalist Joon Lee (12) has led Scripps Ranch to national appearances. However, due to the fact that the full A team still has not had an opportunity to play a tournament together, predicting their performance for this weekend could be interesting. Consistency appears to be something they struggle with, but they do have the potential to win important games.
Prediction: 4-6 prelims
Troy NJROTC A (NSC, unranked)
After qualifying at an NJROTC invitational earlier in the fall, Troy has not made any other appearances this season. From the few statistics I have found, their PP20TUH falls short of other teams. With this being said, Troy should look into attending more SoCal events next season to gain more experience which should help them improve greatly.
Prediction: 3-4 prelims
Troy NJROTC B (NSC, unranked)
See above.
Prediction: 1-6 prelims
Troy NJROTC C (NSC, unranked)
See above.
Prediction: 1-6 prelims
Westview (NSC, Morlan 59)
Westview has made some big roster changes from last year to this year due to the graduation of many key players including Rahul Keyal (’17). This year, Westview rebuilt most of their roster, and Kevin Yu (12) did a fantastic job of leading his team to a successful season. Although they lack the depth they had last year (getting only about half of the powers than they got last year), they are still a strong team and we can expect to see good things going their way in June.
Prediction: 6-1 prelims, 3-2 playoffs
Good luck to all teams that will be competing!
Photo credits: Jonathan Luck
Southern California Quizbowl 