WHS Academic Team Wins Close Match and Captures County Championship for First Time in Twelve Years
For the first time since 2006, the Walkersville high school Academic Team brings home the trophy for the 2018 Frederick Academic Tournament.
Their night began with an intense match against Oakdale and Middletown. Initially, it seemed that Walkersville would have a comfortable game against the two teams by securing a six point lead over Middletown, and a seven point lead over Oakdale; however a successful packet round by each team and an outstanding effort from both Oakdale and Middletown drew the game down to the last point.
A few missed responses from Middletown put them out of reach on the last few questions of the fifth round, allowing Walkersville to take a hard fought win.
The final scores for that game were: Walkersville 15, Middletown 14, Oakdale 10.
The next match they would participate in was the championship, where they went up against Frederick and Urbana. It was a worrisome match up for some, as Frederick had constantly been winning out against Walkersville by one point margins. Urbana was no joke either, as all season the team has been putting up a large amount of points on the board and holding their own. This championship was sure to be a good match up.
The first round, a competitive round began with Walkersville gaining an early lead, but Frederick trailed close behind. Urbana however, dug itself into a hole and ended the round with negative points.
The next round was an individual school round where teams answered six questions from a randomly selected packet. Frederick went first and answered all six of their questions correctly, then came Walkersville who also answered all six of their questions correctly, and finally came Urbana who also answered all six of their questions correctly, taking themselves out of the hole and putting themselves onto the board.
After that was the mixed math round, which is where Urbana began to catch up to the other two teams. Frederick and Urbana competed with each other for most of this round, but Walkersville was able to answer enough questions to retain their lead, albeit a short one.
Up next came the night’s themed round. Teams answered ten questions that had to do with the year 1968. Frederick and Walkersville returned to battling it out with each other, while Urbana chipped in a few responses here and there, oftenly losing points to an incorrect response. Walkersville was able to again retain its lead this round but Frederick was only two questions behind.
Finally came the fifth round. 20 questions, and it was anyone’s game. Initially, Walkersville and Frederick began to buzz in for response after response, but Walkersville was able to keep just out of Frederick’s reach, that is until one incorrect response from Walkersville allowed Frederick to catch up. But, similarly to Walkersville’s last match Frederick gives up three points to incorrect responses and falls behind.
But the match isn’t over yet, as out of left field Urbana begins to put up one point after the other and inches ever closer to Walkersville. Finally question 18 comes, and neither Urbana nor Frederick has enough points to catch up to Walkersville at this point, and each team knows it. It doesn’t stop them from buzzing in however and Urbana and Frederick get the last few buzzes, tying on the last round, and finishing four points behind Walkersville.
The final scores were: Frederick 12, Walkersville 16, Urbana 12.
“They pulled it out.” said junior Jared McWilliams who was taken on an emotional rollercoaster while watching his team compete.
“It was a great game,[we] played the Walkersville way, stayed focused.” said coach John Van Bloem.
“I feel ecstatic.” said co-coach Darrin Drum. “We played confidently and didn’t let mistakes hurt us.” Drum gave a warm thank you to each of the seniors on the team stating “It’s been a great four years, hopefully you started something.”
“Every single person contributed.” said Walkersville alumni Alec Parker. “Came out, did their job. I’m proud of them.”
It was a hard fought victory, and a hard season. All throughout the night each team put all they had out there and in the end Walkersville prevailed.
