Walkersville Finishes Second to Brunswick in Academic Tournament County Championship
by Nathaniel Mulitauaopele
The final stretch approaches. The academic team county tournament was held on February, 24th, 2017.
The matches began with the team’s that would compete for the finals, Walkersville played Frederick and Linganore for its seat beside Urbana who had already secured their seat at the finals.
They began with a round where the teams had to figure out the palindrome being used, word spelled backwards the same way they are spelled forwards. Walkersville secures a six point lead this round, Linganore taking only one point and Frederick none.
The scores are: Walkersville 7, Linganore 1, and Frederick 0
The second round the packet round comes up, and Walkerville misses one of their questions getting themselves to 12 points, Linganore and Frederick both tie themselves up to 7 points.
The scores are: Walkersville 12, Linganore 7, Frederick 7
The third round, the math round begins, and Walkersville takes two points, Linganore 1 and Frederick loses itself three points with incorrect answers, bringing themselves down to four.
The scores are: Walkersville 14, Linganore 8, and Frederick 4
The fourth round begins, and it is themed after famous movies. Frederick is thoroughly left behind in this round, leaving Linganore and Walkerville to battle it out. However, Walkersville with its great lead continues to stand over Linganore despite its great effort.
The scores are: Walkersville 18, Linganore 10, and Frederick 4
The fifth round begins and Walkersville leaves both Linganore and Frederick in the dust. They gain six points, Linganore two and Frederick one. A highlight being when Walkersville guessing on a history question asking about WW2. The team had buzzed in before they full question of whether they wanted the start or finish was asked, and guessed the right answer, signalling a cheer from the crowd.
The scores are Walkersville 24, Linganore 12, Frederick 5
“It was pretty intense. Pretty lucky on that World War II question,” said team member Ryan Puthumana. Coach Darrin Drum said that the team “played very very very well.”
The championship match finally came, pitting Urbana, Walkersville, and Brunswick against each other, three very distinguished teams.
The first round begins with anagrams, and the teams stay neck and neck. Urbana and Walkersville tie with two points leaving Brunswick behind with only one point.
The scores are: Urbana 2, Walkersville 2, Brunswick 1
The second round begins and it’s the packet round. The questions on these packets are rough, and each team loses at least one point. Walkersville gains a one point lead, and Brunswick catches up to Urbana.
The scores are: Urbana 6, Walkersville 7, Brunswick 6
The third round begins , seeing very small gains for each team. The game is very tense, the lowest score being only three points from the highest. Urbana takes the lead.
The scores are Urbana 9, Walkersville 8, Brunswick 6
The fourth round the movie round begins. This round sees Urbana lose its lead and Walkersville and Brunswick fight for their own leads. The match is upturned, and the previously down Brunswick now leads over Walkersville by one point, changing the game from a battle between Urbana and Walkersville, to each of the two front runners trying to catch up.
The fifth and final round finally comes after a long and interesting season.The final twenty questions are asked. Urbana loses itself to Walkersville and Brunswick, and Walkersville still tries to catch up to Brunswick who has now built up a decent lead. Walkersville’s momentum is killed when they answer a few questions wrong, and Brunswick maintains a good enough lead that even if Walkersville or Urbana answers the rest of the questions right they won’t catch up. The match is over and Brunswick wins.
The final scores of the year are: Urbana 9, Walkersville 10, and Brunswick 16.
“It was a team effort.” said coach John Van Bloem “[This] was a brilliantly played match — super job to the whole team,” he said in his speech at the end of the match.
Senior Caleb Chen won the MVP award, and said “it felt really nice. Felt really good.” He described his whole career to me in an interview, saying that “My first year it was a learning experience. Second I tried to get better, and [spent] he final year making sure not to screw up and keep calm.”
“I’m pretty proud of how we played.” said Joey Moss “This is the most fun night I’ve ever had in high school.”
