WHS Quiz Bowl Team Stands Up to Questioning at Nationals

Weston’s Quiz Bowl team in Atlanta: Advisor Alison Langsdorf, Benny Gilligan, Reid Betty, William Houston and Claire Kakabeeke. Photo credit: Angela Kakabeeke

When the Owl last saw Weston High School’s Quiz Bowl team back in March, they were in competition in Massachusetts on the WGBH Quiz Show, answering tough questions about mathy stuff and other subjects that the Owl clearly needs to study just a little bit more. While they eventually were beaten by North Quincy on the April 30 show, the undeterred team was off to Atlanta over Memorial Day weekend to participate in the High School National Championship Tournament. This year is the first time ever that a team from Weston qualified for this tournament.

Over two and a half days, the team (seniors Reid Betty, Benny Gilligan, and William Houston with freshman Claire Kakabeeke) played 16 rounds of Quiz Bowl, winning 9 and losing 7 which placed them 140th (around the middle) of the very competitive field of 272 high school teams.

All members contributed to the team’s success by answering questions about history, geography, current events, music, science, math, literature, and art. William ranked as the 52nd individual top scorer (out of more than 1250 students).

Alison Langsdorf, WHS Math/Computer Science Teacher and coach/advisor for the team, commented: “It was an impressive performance by Weston. They worked hard for their qualification and in the tournament, and we are incredibly proud of how we did.”

Go ‘cats!

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