Academic Challenge Teams Rank High in Regional Tournament

On Saturday, March 12, 2011, teams from many areas of Ohio gathered at John Carroll University for the second annual Ohio Regional Academic Challenge Tournament. Teams competed in three divisions – High School Varsity, High School Junior Varsity, and Middle School. Hawken School was represented by a High School Varsity team and four Middle School teams.

The Hawken Upper School team was a young team competing against older teams. Despite competing against mostly senior/junior teams, Hawken won four of their six matches in regular tournament play and moved into the championship rounds. In the end, only Copley was able to stop this team, with Copley A taking first place, Copley B taking second, and Hawken placing third.

The Hawken Middle School B team won all six of their preliminary matches, while Hawken A team won 5 of their 6. This placed Hawken B against Hawken A in semi-finals. In a high-scoring match for both teams, Hawken A came out on top to play in the finals against undefeated Port Clinton. In a very close match, Port Clinton was able to take the title, with Hawken A coming in second and Hawken B placing third.

Our Hawken C and D teams also performed admirably. State rules allow up to two 9th graders per team in order for middle schools to compete against junior high schools. Our C & D teams are made up of mostly 6th graders who provided tough competition to much older teams. As a result, both teams won three of their six matches. This enabled them to place fifth and sixth in the tournament.

Congratulations to all of our Academic Challenge teams on their success, and stay tuned for results from the upcoming local middle school-only tournament hosted at Hawken’s Lyndhurst campus on April 16 and from the National tournament in Chicago on June 10-13, where Hawken will be represented by two Middle School teams and an Upper School team.

Academic Challenge Teams for Ohio Regional Tournament: Team A