Illinois '16-'17

Dormant threads from the high school sections are preserved here.
A Dim-Witted Saboteur
Yuna
Posts: 973
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2016 12:31 pm
Location: Indiana

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by A Dim-Witted Saboteur »

@Raynor that was facetious. For my opinion on the set, see edit. Please do not hesitate to notify me if I am offering unduly public criticism or revealing anything approaching question content.
Jakob M. (they/them)
Michigan State '21, Indiana '2?
"No one has ever organized a greater effort to get people interested in pretending to play quiz bowl"
-Ankit Aggarwal
User avatar
Viridian
Lulu
Posts: 46
Joined: Tue Feb 02, 2016 6:54 pm

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by Viridian »

As the year comes to an end, I thought that it would be nice to display the collective opinion of HSQB in IL with some mid-season rankings. With the help of Deepak Moparthi (SHS), Kevin Kodama (OPRF), Anishka Bandara (OPRF), Harrison Wang (HC),and Jakob Myers (NN), I have a compendium of teams that would qualify as the "top" in Illinois this season along with a brief description. We decided to divide the teams up into two tiers: one containing the best of the best in Illinois so far, and the other great teams that are similar in level. Without further ado, here is our selection.

Tier 1:

Barrington (Matthew Lehmann, John Waldron, Wilder Seitz, Abraham Holtermann): Barrington has two of the best generalists in the state, but that shouldn't let you discount their specialist ability - extreme depth as well as good breadth. John has further solidified his science capabilities, easily competent at the nationals level, while also focusing on learning history. That combined with Lehmann’s fearsome and constantly improving prowess in lit and deep generalism puts Barrington at the highest tier in the state, and they should be national contenders as well. However, their habit of negging often causes them problems against top teams. Barrington is nevertheless a serious force in both the Illinois circuit and national quiz bowl.

-23.58 Earlybird (HS Reg), 473.33 PPG, 1st Place
-24.82 PPB at Stevenson Kickoff (HS Reg), 481.67 PPG, 1st Place
-23.47 PPB at HFT (HS Difficult), 488.85 PPG, 2nd Place
-15.56 PPB at NTV (Collegiate Reg), 310.56 PPG, 2nd Place

Naperville North (Jakob Myers, Shawn Yoshida, Alex Eastman, Jack Brandt): Arguably the best quizbowl player in the state, Jakob Myers individually dominates every tournament he attends, and is very dominant at history. His unmatched prowess on NAQT questions makes him a likely contender for HSNCT, and given his generalism, should be in the running for PACE as well. However, Jakob’s biggest weakness is likely science, which is complemented nicely with his science-heavy teammates, allowing Naperville North to maintain a spot in the top tier in spite of having such unbalanced scoring. Shawn Yoshida is filling in the myth hole quite well, and Alex Eastman is very competent at Economics and Physics. Jack Brandt is a competent fourth scorer, contributing approximately 5-7 ppg on difficult HS sets with his extremely odd patches of knowledge and core competence on philosophy. With such an interesting team layout, we can expect Naperville North to be a serious contender especially at the national level.

-20.60 PPB at ACF Fall (HS Difficult), 348.50 PPG, 3rd Place
-24.28 PPB at HFT (HS Difficult), 520.91 PPG, 1st Place
-17.65 at NTV (Collegiate Reg), 293.56 PPG, 1st Place

Stevenson A: (Ali Saeed, Young Lee, Conrad Oberhaus, Govind Prabhakar, Nathan Cha): Ali Saeed leads a very strong team which is easily in contention for the state title as well as at least a top-five national finish. Ali is the best generalist in Illinois and has extremely deep science and literature knowledge. Young Lee is probably the best philosophy player in the entire country and also provides the team with strong fine arts, religion, and mythology knowledge. Nathan Cha provides strong support with his fine arts knowledge. Despite the loss of Kazuma Shimanaka, Stevenson A retains its depth in history with the addition of Conrad Oberhaus and Govind Prabhakar. Conrad and Govind also provide Stevenson with deep geography knowledge, furthering their ability to play strongly on NAQT sets. Govind and Conrad will both develop into excellent hist/geo specialists, Deepak dominating science, and with Olivia to field literature, Stevenson will remain a force after their seniors have graduated.

-23.29 PPB at ACF Fall (HS Difficult), 423.75 PPG, 1st Place (Roster: Ali, Young, Deepak, Govind)
-23.69 PPB at Stevenson Kickoff (HS Reg), 444.17 PPG, 2nd Place (Roster: Olivia, Conrad, Deepak, Nathan, Govind)
-22.90 PPB at HFT (HS Difficult), 458.64 PPG, 3rd Place (Roster: Ali, Young, Conrad, Deepak)
-23.49 PPB at Ultima (HS Reg), 461.67 PPG, 1st Place (Roster: Ali, Nathan)
-16.74 PPB at NTV (Collegiate Reg), 296.25 PPG, 4th Place (Roster: Ali, Young, Govind)

Tier 2:

Auburn (Ethan Strombeck, Henry Roe, Morad Suliman, Lilly Chavez, Zane Clevenger): In spite of losing Cole, Auburn is still quite solid, retaining Henry and Strombeck, although Henry has yet to make an appearance. Strombeck has embraced the role of generalist quite well while maintaining a specialty in fine arts and some history/geo. With Henry’s return and some gap-filling, Auburn will only get better, and should be one of the best teams in the state. They are an extraordinarily disciplined team, with close to none negs every game. Their discipline and reticence on the buzzer can contribute to stunning finishes such as this, but can also lead to losses on buzzer races with less neg-happy players. Overall, Auburn has an extremely bright future. Ethan with another two years of canon knowledge, studying, and generalization will be a force of quizbowl nature.

-17.85 PPB at ACF Fall (HS Difficult), 290.00 PPG, 9th Place (w/o Henry)
-16.35 PPB at Stevenson Kickoff (HS Reg), 218.00 PPG, 8th Place (w/o Ethan or Henry)
-20.63 PPB at HFT (HS Difficult), 387.73 PPG, 6th Place (w/o Henry)
-12.73 at NTV (Collegiate Reg), 186.25 PPG, 8th Place (w/o Henry)

Carmel Catholic (Ricky Rivera, Ethan Seidenburg, Calla Schultz, Celia DeKeyser, Bernard Zitzewitz): Although he may be a mostly one-man team, Ricky has impressive breadth and is especially good on NAQT thanks to his trash and current events knowledge. Furthermore he's capable of pulling clutch lit buzzes and plenty of generalist buzzes, but to break into a higher tier, more committed teammates or dedicated depth studying would be necessary.

-21.41 PPB at Stevenson Kickoff (HS Reg), 347.50 PPG, 5th Place
-19.53 PPB at HFT (HS Difficult), 300.45 PPG, 4th Place
-23.07 PPB at NTV (HS Novice), 438.18 PPG, 2nd Place Standard

Fremd A (Gretchen Coleman, Bissmun Gill, Varun Cidambi, Vikas Reddy, Advay Mahajan, Kevin Chen): Fremd hasn't graduated any of their lineup from last year, and has gotten significantly better as a result of putting their best players on A rather than splitting talent. Gretchen and Bissmun both have acquired a fairly good grasp of lit, and although it may seem like this lineup seems redundant because of two lit players, they complement each other well to combine for a good depth and breadth. Gretchen seems to do fine arts as well. Varun provides the overall generalism while him and Vikas combine to take care of history. Advay also provides a baseline of science to work off. Furthermore, the overall team is very impressive at current events/trash, suggesting they would be better at NAQT. As a team that pulls many upsets against a number of teams on this list, we expect Fremd A to finish strong at the end of the season.

-19.56 PPB at ACF Fall (HS Difficult), 259.00 PPG, 6th Place
-21.76 PPB at Stevenson Kickoff (HS Reg), 318.00 PPG, 4th Place
-18.97 PPB at HFT (HS Difficult), 323.18 PPG, 10th Place
-23.75 PPB at Ultima (HS Reg), 397.00 PPG, 4th Place
-14.22 PPB at NTV (Collegiate Reg), 184.38 PPG, 7th Place

Hinsdale Central (Harrison Wang, Atharv Garje, Michael Noonan, Daren Chen): Despite losing almost all of their A team from last year, Hinsdale continues to remain a strong team. Harrison Wang is one of the best chemistry players in the country and also has very deep knowledge in other areas of science and fine arts. Harrison is also a very competent generalist and is usually top scorer. Atharv is good at history and geography and is also picking up bits of literature here and there. Mike has deep history and current events knowledge. Daren is a quizbowl sniper, picking up deep buzzes here or there on his pet subjects. While they have a pretty high overlap structure, Hinsdale has fairly distributed scoring and solid bonus conversion. Hinsdale by no means is a disappointment this year compared to last year’s lineup: they have seemed to neg a lot less, and will improve further given Harrison’s tournament attendance.

-18.56 PPB at ACF Fall, 275.50 PPG, 4th Place (w/o Atharv)
-23.83 PPB at Fenwick Kickoff, 587.78 PPG, 1st Place
-23.97 PPB at Ultima, 425.00 PPG, 2nd Place
-12.73 PPB at NTV (Collegiate Reg), 153.75 PPG, 6th Place (w/o Atharv or Daren)

Homewood-Flossmoor (Lily Hamer, Declan Cauley, Ethan Bosch, Michael Colton): Homewood-Flossmoor is largely a single-player team due to the graduation of Michael Gislason. Lily Hamer’s PPG numbers at various tournaments are likely due to a lack of specialization from her teammates. This being said, she is capable of powering lit, but there remain gaping knowledge holes in her core of knowledge on literature questions. This team has the potential to be a local power, but for now, their PPG and PPB numbers leave something to be desired.

-18.80 at Earlybird (HS Reg), 327.22 PPG, 3rd Place
-18.89 PPB at HFT (HS Difficult), 352.22 PPG, 8th Place
-10.73 PPB at NTV (Collegiate Reg), 132.50 PPG, 10th Place

IMSA (Pranav Sivakumar, Nathaniel Smith, Hanson Hao, Becky Mathew, Shivani Sharma, Gary Yang, Alex Orlov): Despite losing Mike Etzkorn, IMSA is still a considerable team to face against. Pranav has gotten some deep knowledge in literature as well as geography/history, while the addition of Hanson allows the team to get some good coverage into some of the tougher categories. Becky has become one of the best religion players in the state but contributes quite a bit of niche knowledge every game and fills in as generalist whenever needed. Nathaniel also has several odd patches of history knowledge, which complements the skill sets of other players well. With the full lineup, IMSA shouldn’t be a far cry from what they have achieved throughout the previous season.

-18.18 PPB at ACF Fall (HS Difficult), 295.50 PPG, 7th Place (w/o Nathaniel)
-24.86 PPB at Stevenson Kickoff (HS Reg), 455.50 PPG, 3rd Place
-20.25 PPB at HFT (HS Difficult), 357.73 PPG, 7th Place (w/o Hanson + Pranav)
-20.83 PPB at Ultima (HS Reg), 332.00 PPG, 6th Place (w/o Hanson + Pranav)

Latin A (Ana Pranger, Eddy Lee, Jackson Coleman, Alex Reuter): After the loss of Simon Ricci from last year, Latin A has been on the decline. While still having decent finishes at tournaments this year, they are not putting up very many powers. Their top scorer this year is Ana Prager, who is a decent literature player. Eddy Lee provides good science and math support, while the rest of the team can convert history. Once again, I think Latin’s biggest weakness is their lack of depth which could potentially get them good powers.

-20.82 PPB at Fenwick Kickoff (HS Reg), 383.13 PPG, 5th Place
-17.67 PPB at HFT (HS Difficult), 320.00 PPG, 15th Place
-19.42 PPB at Ultima (HS Reg), 342.50 PPG, 1st Place Standard (w/o everyone)
-20.29 at NTV (HS Novice), 324.50 PPG, 7th Place Standard

Loyola (Jack Mayer, Michael Finnegan, Trey Starshak, Sean Sumugat): After a T-21 finish at HSNCT last year, Loyola returns its two lead scorers, both of whom are competent generalists on their own. Loyola’s strongest subject is likely history/current events, but Finnegan has a niche in myth and is one of the better myth players in IL. That being said, they are capable of picking up any categories off of teams that are unspecialized, making any holes particularly dangerous against them. Loyola is similar to Fremd in terms of placement, but with explosive second semester senior improvement, can improve.

-21.10 PPB at Stevenson Kickoff (HS Reg), 356.00 PPG, 6th Place
-21.30 PPB at Ultima (HS Reg), 319.5 PPG, 5th Place
-23.63 PPB at NTV (HS Novice), 435.00 PPG, 1st Place Standard

Metea Valley (Arpan Laha, Kieran Kaempen, Nick Kaminsky, Miles Ollee, Arjun Sundararajan, Rohin Bhasin): After losing Harsha and Melissa, the team has struggled with literature and fine arts. Nick’s deep history knowledge, however, is something to be noted especially after seeing his solid buzzes during ACF Fall. Nevertheless, Arpan and Kieran both make up a strong core of the team, with solid knowledge in science and RMP. Arjun helps the team carry out the NAQT distribution with his minor generalism as well. With a full team, Metea Valley is expected to pull off some solid finishes throughout the rest of the season if their tournament attendance improves.

-15.21 PPB at ACF Fall (HS Difficult), 230.00 PPG, 5th Place

Oak Park-River Forest (Anishka Bandara, Kevin Kodama, Sanjeev Venkatesan, Cole Tamondong, Jon Niewijk): Due to school issues, OPRF hasn't been able to attend many tournaments this year, but when they do, they put up fearsome power counts and PPBs, and given Kevin’s explosive improvement in the last few months, should only get better. Anishka brings deep science knowledge that is competent at the nationals level, while Kevin provides the team’s generalism and knows a lot of lit, FA, and history. Anishka is also a generalist in his own right, picking up lit and RMP. Sanjeev also contributes lit. The biggest issue for OPRF would be, other than tournament attendance, would be deepening their breadth and ensuring consistency, both of which rely on each other. Nevertheless, OPRF has gone from being a good standard division team to a solid Uber team.

-21.60 PPB at Fenwick Kickoff (HS Reg), 443.33 PPG, 3rd Place (w/o Kevin)
-24.13 PPB at Ultima (HS Reg), 387.00 PPG, 3rd Place

Stevenson B (Olivia Lamberti, Deepak Moparthi, Nathan Cha, Chris Muth, Shamsheer Rana, Michelle Cai): Despite being a B team, Stevenson B is as strong, if not stronger, than most A teams on this list. Olivia Lamberti has extremely deep literature knowledge and is also a very competent generalist. Deepak Moparthi also plays an integral part in the team’s success with his deep science and mythology knowledge and is also capable of generalizing. As of now, history seems to be spread out amongst every member of Stevenson B. However, given some time, Chris Muth could potentially become a very deep history player. Stevenson B’s biggest strength is its players’ motivation and ability to improve rapidly. The biggest weakness of Stevenson B is probably the sporadic attendance of their team members and fluctuating roster. Overall, Stevenson B should not be underestimated solely due to the fact that they are a B team, as they scale up to many of the A teams in Illinois.

-18.00 PPB at ACF Fall (HS Difficult), 461.67 PPG, 8th Place (Roster: Olivia, Chris, Shamsheer, Michelle)
-19.88 PPB at Stevenson Kickoff (HS Reg), 288.50 PPG, 7th Place (Roster: Chris, Shamsheer, Michelle, Ani, David, Shreya)
-16.36 PPB at HFT (HS Difficult), 300.45 PPG, 9th Place (Roster: Olivia)
-20.30 PPB at Ultima (HS Reg), 315.50 PPG, 7th Place (Roster: Deepak, Shamsheer, Chris, Michelle)
-22.28 PPB at NTV (HS Novice), 429.00 PPG, 5th Place Standard (Roster: Conrad, Deepak, Michelle)

Waubonsie Valley (Brian Kalathiveetil, Addison Hagerman, Matt Lorenc, Andrew Du, Max Wang): Brian Kal has went from being a solid science and fine arts player to becoming a very competent generalist. Addison has also covered some parts of the distribution with his expansive myth knowledge as well as his minor generalism. In addition, both Matt Lorenc and Andrew Du fill in holes in American History and Geography, respectively. However, Waubonsie is seen as quite mercurial due to their relatively low PPB finishes, but this is due to the absence of a full roster during tournaments. Even with a full roster, Waubonsie is by far weakest in sets with bouncing bonuses due to their weakness in this area. With the acquisition of contributing teammates and with closer alignment of Brian’s knowledge base with the NAQT canon, this should easily improve.

-17.96 PPB at ACF Fall (HS Difficult), 259.00 PPG, 10th Place
-19.82 PPB at Fenwick Kickoff (HS Reg), 430.56 PPG, 2nd Place (w/o Matt)
-18.96 PPB at HFT (HS Difficult), 318.15 PPG, 5th Place (w/o Addison and Andrew)

Opinionated Rankings
All IL teams involved in the creation of this document (with the exception of IMSA) voted on the top 10 teams in Illinois. The votes were tallied and kept in order by Deepak Moparthi and Kevin Kodama. The results were fed into a single transferable vote calculator, which picked winners in order and redistributed the votes afterwards. The following are the final adjusted vote totals, the methodology of which can be found on http://paul-lockett.co.uk/av.html.

1. Naperville North (7.00 adjusted votes)
2. Stevenson A (5.48 adjusted votes)
3. Barrington (8.18 adjusted votes)
4. IMSA (3.61 adjusted votes)
5. Hinsdale Central (2.21 adjusted votes)
6. Stevenson B (1.98 adjusted votes)
7. Auburn (1.78 adjusted votes)
8. OPRF (1.78 adjusted votes)
9. Fremd (2.09 adjusted votes)
10. Waubonsie Valley (1.81 adjusted votes)

PPB Rankings

Thanks to the efforts of Harrison Wang, we also have a list of Illinois teams ranked in order by PPB. Below is a spreadsheet filled with the different teams and the adjusted PPBs according to the different tournaments attended. The method for calculating the adjusted PPBs is located under the rankings.

Image

As a final note, we hope that we didn't forget/offend anyone, and we're completely open to any suggestions or complaints. Thank you for taking your time to read this, and we hope your team enjoys the rest of the season!
Last edited by Viridian on Fri Jan 06, 2017 1:04 am, edited 1 time in total.
Brian Kalathiveetil
Waubonsie Valley High School '17
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities '20
User avatar
AGoodMan
Rikku
Posts: 372
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2014 10:25 pm

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by AGoodMan »

Wow. Way to way outdo my midseason rankings from last year. :smile:
Jon Suh
Wheaton Warrenville South High School '16
Harvard '20
A Dim-Witted Saboteur
Yuna
Posts: 973
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2016 12:31 pm
Location: Indiana

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by A Dim-Witted Saboteur »

NOTE: Just posting here, as Luke Tierney would say, to be irritating, but the stats from HoFlo Kickoff just came out, and the resulting rise in our ppb to 25.67 puts us ahead of Stevenson.
Jakob M. (they/them)
Michigan State '21, Indiana '2?
"No one has ever organized a greater effort to get people interested in pretending to play quiz bowl"
-Ankit Aggarwal
noobynoob
Lulu
Posts: 23
Joined: Thu Sep 26, 2013 10:49 pm
Location: IL

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by noobynoob »

Image

So after HF stats came out, I redid this, but it turns out the order doesn't change, so I waited until someone said something about it (thanks Jakob :cool: ). I also tried to give a better explanation of my methodology, but I'm not sure if it's too much better. Interestingly, Stevenson now has an even higher ppb, because the ACF Fall adjustment increased in part due to NN's high is-160 ppb compared to their ACF fall ppb.
Harrison Wang
Hinsdale Central '17
User avatar
Dantooine is Big!
Rikku
Posts: 294
Joined: Mon Nov 02, 2015 9:33 am
Location: Buffalo Grove, Illinois
Contact:

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by Dantooine is Big! »

noobynoob wrote:So after HF stats came out, I redid this, but it turns out the order doesn't change, so I waited until someone said something about it (thanks Jakob :cool: ). I also tried to give a better explanation of my methodology, but I'm not sure if it's too much better. Interestingly, Stevenson now has an even higher ppb, because the ACF Fall adjustment increased in part due to NN's high is-160 ppb compared to their ACF fall ppb.
Dude sweet
Young Fenimore Lee (they/them)
Stevenson High School 2017
Stanford 2021
The New School 2023
Ohio University 2028
A Dim-Witted Saboteur
Yuna
Posts: 973
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2016 12:31 pm
Location: Indiana

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by A Dim-Witted Saboteur »

I've been Stevenson'd again.
Jakob M. (they/them)
Michigan State '21, Indiana '2?
"No one has ever organized a greater effort to get people interested in pretending to play quiz bowl"
-Ankit Aggarwal
A Dim-Witted Saboteur
Yuna
Posts: 973
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2016 12:31 pm
Location: Indiana

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by A Dim-Witted Saboteur »

If anyone is wondering why our PPB at ACF was crap, it's because Shawn and Alex weren't there, so our science coverage was nonexistent.
Jakob M. (they/them)
Michigan State '21, Indiana '2?
"No one has ever organized a greater effort to get people interested in pretending to play quiz bowl"
-Ankit Aggarwal
User avatar
Irreligion in Bangladesh
Auron
Posts: 2123
Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2004 1:18 am
Location: Winnebago, IL

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by Irreligion in Bangladesh »

The field for NHBB at Stevenson this weekend is pretty much set; if you're interested in playing the Bowl and haven't registered, please e-mail me and I'll see what I can do. You can show up day-of and play the Bee without prior registration, if you like.

Registration for next weekend at Belvidere North is still open, too, and we're still looking for teams for the NHBB State Championships at Loyola on February 4th; the JV field has started well, but the varsity field is looking pretty bare. There's plenty of time to register. If you have any questions about any events, send me an e-mail. Thanks!
Brad Fischer
Head Editor, IHSA State Series
IHSSBCA Chair

Winnebago HS ('06)
Northern Illinois University ('10)
Assistant Coach, IMSA (2010-12)
Coach, Keith Country Day School (2012-16)
master9017
Lulu
Posts: 18
Joined: Wed May 13, 2015 8:10 pm

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by master9017 »

Well guys, State is just around the corner. Any predictions on how it'll go this year?
Addison Hagerman
Waubonsie Valley '17
noobynoob
Lulu
Posts: 23
Joined: Thu Sep 26, 2013 10:49 pm
Location: IL

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by noobynoob »

master9017 wrote:Well guys, State is just around the corner. Any predictions on how it'll go this year?
I think Naperville North will win NAQT, Barrington will win IHSA, and Stevenson will win Masonic. Sectional assignments for IHSA and Masonics are up. IHSA sectionals are really lopsided.
Harrison Wang
Hinsdale Central '17
A Dim-Witted Saboteur
Yuna
Posts: 973
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2016 12:31 pm
Location: Indiana

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by A Dim-Witted Saboteur »

noobynoob wrote: I think Naperville North will win NAQT, Barrington will win IHSA, and Stevenson will win Masonic. Sectional assignments for IHSA and Masonics are up. IHSA sectionals are really lopsided.
Barrington v. Stevenson and Naperville North v. IMSA at IHSA sectionals are going to be interesting. Also, since Masonic favors PPB, I'll have to agree with you as to Stevenson's probable win there.

But yeah, the suburban sectionals for IHSA are all going to be brutal.
Jakob M. (they/them)
Michigan State '21, Indiana '2?
"No one has ever organized a greater effort to get people interested in pretending to play quiz bowl"
-Ankit Aggarwal
User avatar
nitzuga
Lulu
Posts: 26
Joined: Thu Oct 01, 2015 9:58 am

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by nitzuga »

Very much unrelated to the current conversation, but are any Illinois teams interested in a BASQT mirror on April 8 in West Lafayette, IN? We're considering running a tournament and would like to know if there's interest from neighboring states before solidifying plans. PM me if so.
Agustin Garcia
Harrison HS 2017, MIT 2021
A Dim-Witted Saboteur
Yuna
Posts: 973
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2016 12:31 pm
Location: Indiana

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by A Dim-Witted Saboteur »

So, downstate people, what are your picks to win sectionals?
Jakob M. (they/them)
Michigan State '21, Indiana '2?
"No one has ever organized a greater effort to get people interested in pretending to play quiz bowl"
-Ankit Aggarwal
User avatar
mhasquin
Wakka
Posts: 122
Joined: Sat Feb 16, 2013 8:09 pm
Location: Piasa, Illinois
Contact:

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by mhasquin »

As far as downstate IHSA 2A Sectionals go...

At Macomb, I feel the top four are Glenwood, Macomb, Springfield High, and Rochester. Macomb is strong, but with the IHSA style, I feel Glenwood has the edge.
At Mahomet-Seymour, Urbana Uni Lab, M-S, Normal U High, maybe Mattoon. I think this is Uni Lab's return to Peoria.
At Mt. Vernon, Carbondale, Breese Mater Dei, Greenville, and O'Fallon. Mater Dei could make some noise, but they don't really get much exposure on the tournament circuit. Carbondale's depth gives them an edge over BMD.

In all fairness, while there are some strong programs "downstate", I don't feel they have the depth needed have a shot at the top spots. We've been fortunate to play quite a few Saturdays so far this year and seen some fine, competitive schools, but the "north of I-80 schools" have been tested in the fire, so to speak.

As far as Masonics go, I have to agree with statement above about PBB. So many things can happen, and the margin for error is very slim.

My 2 cents.
Matt Hasquin
Scholastic Bowl Coach - Southwestern High School - Piasa, Illinois
IHSSBCA Chair (2018-2022)
Father Comstock
Lulu
Posts: 82
Joined: Thu Mar 06, 2014 1:17 pm

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by Father Comstock »

nitzuga wrote:Very much unrelated to the current conversation, but are any Illinois teams interested in a BASQT mirror on April 8 in West Lafayette, IN? We're considering running a tournament and would like to know if there's interest from neighboring states before solidifying plans. PM me if so.
We would very much appreciate the support from the IL teams as we attempt to get more pyramidal tournaments in our own state!!
Ben Anthony
Harrison High School '17, Purdue University '21
I made this as a freshman, I realize my name is stupid. I never even played Bioshock.
A Dim-Witted Saboteur
Yuna
Posts: 973
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2016 12:31 pm
Location: Indiana

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by A Dim-Witted Saboteur »

Father Comstock wrote:
nitzuga wrote:Very much unrelated to the current conversation, but are any Illinois teams interested in a BASQT mirror on April 8 in West Lafayette, IN? We're considering running a tournament and would like to know if there's interest from neighboring states before solidifying plans. PM me if so.
We would very much appreciate the support from the IL teams as we attempt to get more pyramidal tournaments in our own state!!
As long as the question set is one I haven't played yet, I have the weekend free, entry fees are low enough and there's a discount for distance, I'm there.
Jakob M. (they/them)
Michigan State '21, Indiana '2?
"No one has ever organized a greater effort to get people interested in pretending to play quiz bowl"
-Ankit Aggarwal
User avatar
Irreligion in Bangladesh
Auron
Posts: 2123
Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2004 1:18 am
Location: Winnebago, IL

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by Irreligion in Bangladesh »

JakobeanEra wrote:
Father Comstock wrote:
nitzuga wrote:Very much unrelated to the current conversation, but are any Illinois teams interested in a BASQT mirror on April 8 in West Lafayette, IN? We're considering running a tournament and would like to know if there's interest from neighboring states before solidifying plans. PM me if so.
We would very much appreciate the support from the IL teams as we attempt to get more pyramidal tournaments in our own state!!
As long as the question set is one I haven't played yet, I have the weekend free, entry fees are low enough and there's a discount for distance, I'm there.
If anyone else is kicking around the idea of going to Indiana for this, I'd encourage it: BASQT currently doesn't have a mirror site in Illinois (its first use weekend lands in February, once regular Sat. tournaments traditionally dry up). Last year, Huskie Bowl used it; can't do so again this year, of course. There's no other high school tournament that weekend.
Brad Fischer
Head Editor, IHSA State Series
IHSSBCA Chair

Winnebago HS ('06)
Northern Illinois University ('10)
Assistant Coach, IMSA (2010-12)
Coach, Keith Country Day School (2012-16)
User avatar
dtaylor4
Auron
Posts: 3733
Joined: Tue Nov 16, 2004 11:43 am

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by dtaylor4 »

mhasquin wrote:As far as downstate IHSA 2A Sectionals go...

At Macomb, I feel the top four are Glenwood, Macomb, Springfield High, and Rochester. Macomb is strong, but with the IHSA style, I feel Glenwood has the edge.
At Mahomet-Seymour, Urbana Uni Lab, M-S, Normal U High, maybe Mattoon. I think this is Uni Lab's return to Peoria.
At Mt. Vernon, Carbondale, Breese Mater Dei, Greenville, and O'Fallon. Mater Dei could make some noise, but they don't really get much exposure on the tournament circuit. Carbondale's depth gives them an edge over BMD.

In all fairness, while there are some strong programs "downstate", I don't feel they have the depth needed have a shot at the top spots. We've been fortunate to play quite a few Saturdays so far this year and seen some fine, competitive schools, but the "north of I-80 schools" have been tested in the fire, so to speak.

As far as Masonics go, I have to agree with statement above about PBB. So many things can happen, and the margin for error is very slim.

My 2 cents.
If you want to win the Macomb sectional, someone has to beat Glenwood. Macomb might, Springfield is too young, and I do *not* see Rochester pulling it off again.

Mattoon will get there, but not right now. Give Aydt time, and he might take the Green Wave to Peoria. I'm with Hasquin, Uni Lab is taking that spot.
User avatar
El Salvadoreno
Rikku
Posts: 346
Joined: Wed Nov 30, 2016 7:45 am
Location: Northwest Suburbs, IL

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by El Salvadoreno »

Hello, has anyone heard anything about NASAT tryouts. I know they are usually this week but there is no word of a NASAT team either here or on the IHSSBCA website.
Ricky "Slick Rick/Rico Suave" Rivera
Carmel Catholic- Class of '17
Notre Dame (Mendoza)- Class of '22

My Namesake
User avatar
AGoodMan
Rikku
Posts: 372
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2014 10:25 pm

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by AGoodMan »

They're usually at U of I right after NAQT State.
Jon Suh
Wheaton Warrenville South High School '16
Harvard '20
User avatar
Stained Diviner
Auron
Posts: 5085
Joined: Sun Jun 13, 2004 6:08 am
Location: Chicagoland
Contact:

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by Stained Diviner »

NASAT tryouts will not be this weekend. Hopefully, after this weekend there will be an announcement about their time and place.
David Reinstein
Head Writer and Editor for Scobol Solo, Masonics, and IESA; TD for Scobol Solo and Reinstein Varsity; IHSSBCA Board Member; IHSSBCA Chair (2004-2014); PACE President (2016-2018)
A Dim-Witted Saboteur
Yuna
Posts: 973
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2016 12:31 pm
Location: Indiana

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by A Dim-Witted Saboteur »

I couldn't find anywhere else to post this, but I've derived an equation: Number of Wayzata teams at HSNCT = ceiling(current year/2)-1003. It holds true at least through 2012.
Jakob M. (they/them)
Michigan State '21, Indiana '2?
"No one has ever organized a greater effort to get people interested in pretending to play quiz bowl"
-Ankit Aggarwal
User avatar
Hyrdofluoric_Acid
Lulu
Posts: 32
Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2015 8:34 pm

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by Hyrdofluoric_Acid »

So IHSSBCA all sectional selections are up and congratulations to all those who were awarded the honor
http://www.ihssbca.org/awards/all-secti ... elections/
I am a bit confused about how Matthew ranked below me and not in the top six....
John W. of University of Minnesota
User avatar
Dominator
Tidus
Posts: 636
Joined: Sun Mar 14, 2010 9:16 pm

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by Dominator »

Hyrdofluoric_Acid wrote:I am a bit confused about how Matthew ranked below me and not in the top six....
I'm sorry you expected the rankings to accurately reflect the value of the players involved. Someone should have given you a heads-up.
Dr. Noah Prince

Normal Community High School (2002)
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2004, 2007, 2008)

Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy - Scholastic Bowl coach (2009-2014), assistant coach (2014-2015), well wisher (2015-2016)
guy in San Diego (2016-present)
President of Qblitz (2018-present)

Image
Ent
Lulu
Posts: 49
Joined: Sun Sep 07, 2008 12:43 am

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by Ent »

I see that the coaches in the Waubonsie Valley sectional were up to their usual "I've never seen this player/team" shenanigans.
Thomas Egan
User avatar
Good Goblin Housekeeping
Auron
Posts: 1100
Joined: Sun May 23, 2010 10:03 am

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by Good Goblin Housekeeping »

Hyrdofluoric_Acid wrote:So IHSSBCA all sectional selections are up and congratulations to all those who were awarded the honor
http://www.ihssbca.org/awards/all-secti ... elections/
I am a bit confused about how Matthew ranked below me and not in the top six....
How many scobol solos has this lehmann kid won???
Andrew Wang
Illinois 2016
User avatar
El Salvadoreno
Rikku
Posts: 346
Joined: Wed Nov 30, 2016 7:45 am
Location: Northwest Suburbs, IL

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by El Salvadoreno »

I have to agree with John, here, Matt is an obvious snub (especially given that he was all-state first team last year) and I disagree with several other of the rankings.
Just as an idea, has anyone ever considered moving all-sectional from a democratic process to a committee of well-respected coaches, moderators, and other members well-integrated within the circuit to rank all-sectional and all-state.
Ricky "Slick Rick/Rico Suave" Rivera
Carmel Catholic- Class of '17
Notre Dame (Mendoza)- Class of '22

My Namesake
User avatar
the return of AHAN
Auron
Posts: 1988
Joined: Thu Feb 01, 2007 10:40 pm

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by the return of AHAN »

Matthew Lehmann being omitted from anyone's ballot is, to be polite, an outrage. And I don't mean to disrespect the work that others did to land in the top 6. Congratulations to those players.
Maybe some voters felt it was time to let others have a spot on the all-sectional team? :oops:
Jeff Price
Barrington High School Coach (2021 & 2023 HSNCT Champions, 2023 PACE Champions, 2023 Illinois Masonic Bowl Class 3A State Champions)
Barrington Station Middle School Coach (2013 MSNCT Champions, 2013 & 2017 Illinois Class AA State Champions)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
User avatar
TheDoctor
Rikku
Posts: 407
Joined: Fri Aug 29, 2008 12:34 pm

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by TheDoctor »

the return of AHAN wrote:Matthew Lehmann being omitted from anyone's ballot is, to be polite, an outrage. And I don't mean to disrespect the work that others did to land in the top 6. Congratulations to those players.
Maybe some voters felt it was time to let others have a spot on the all-sectional team? :oops:
Just to be clear, he's still on the All-Sectional team, and his nomination sheet got passed along with the others for All-State consideration. The only difference is that I had to "appeal" to Brad on his behalf before I did so.

Edit: This is not to say that I condone the actions of either of the two voters who did not include him on their ballot.
Kristin Strey
SCOP
Head Coach, Winnebago High School (2014-)
Head Coach, Thurgood Marshall School (Rockford) (2022-)
Assistant Coach, IMSA (2010-2012)
Northern Illinois University Quiz Bowl Association founder
User avatar
no ice
Lulu
Posts: 69
Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2014 9:54 pm
Location: Illinois

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by no ice »

JakobeanEra wrote:I couldn't find anywhere else to post this, but I've derived an equation: Number of Wayzata teams at HSNCT = ceiling(current year/2)-1003. It holds true at least through 2012.
This post was under-appreciated. Kudos to you Jakob for this breakthrough. I eagerly await your future discoveries.
James Zhou
Hinsdale Central
A Dim-Witted Saboteur
Yuna
Posts: 973
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2016 12:31 pm
Location: Indiana

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by A Dim-Witted Saboteur »

no ice wrote:
JakobeanEra wrote:I couldn't find anywhere else to post this, but I've derived an equation: Number of Wayzata teams at HSNCT = ceiling(current year/2)-1003. It holds true at least through 2012.
This post was under-appreciated. Kudos to you Jakob for this breakthrough. I eagerly await your future discoveries.
I've derived another law. The number of people paying attention to my crucial scientific discoveries = 1+- 1
Jakob M. (they/them)
Michigan State '21, Indiana '2?
"No one has ever organized a greater effort to get people interested in pretending to play quiz bowl"
-Ankit Aggarwal
User avatar
hcube
Lulu
Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Mar 06, 2017 9:44 pm

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by hcube »

Well, how was Regionals for everyone? I assume everyone has finished by now.
Hanson Hao
IMSA 19
Stanford 23
master9017
Lulu
Posts: 18
Joined: Wed May 13, 2015 8:10 pm

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by master9017 »

hcube wrote:Well, how was Regionals for everyone? I assume everyone has finished by now.
Regionals went well, but the Aurora Sectionals is gonna be a doozy.
Addison Hagerman
Waubonsie Valley '17
User avatar
El Salvadoreno
Rikku
Posts: 346
Joined: Wed Nov 30, 2016 7:45 am
Location: Northwest Suburbs, IL

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by El Salvadoreno »

Our sectional got a little easier since Fremd got upset, but it's still going to be a battle and whoever wins it will earn it.
Ricky "Slick Rick/Rico Suave" Rivera
Carmel Catholic- Class of '17
Notre Dame (Mendoza)- Class of '22

My Namesake
A Dim-Witted Saboteur
Yuna
Posts: 973
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2016 12:31 pm
Location: Indiana

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by A Dim-Witted Saboteur »

This set played like a middle school housewrite. With such a muddy battlefield, I honestly have no idea who's going to win our sectional.
Jakob M. (they/them)
Michigan State '21, Indiana '2?
"No one has ever organized a greater effort to get people interested in pretending to play quiz bowl"
-Ankit Aggarwal
User avatar
El Salvadoreno
Rikku
Posts: 346
Joined: Wed Nov 30, 2016 7:45 am
Location: Northwest Suburbs, IL

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by El Salvadoreno »

JakobeanEra wrote:This set played like a middle school housewrite. With such a muddy battlefield, I honestly have no idea who's going to win our sectional.
Honestly, I'll take the middle school housewrite compared to whatever that was last Monday. Hopefully that IHSSBCA petition comes through so they can get some good writers in.
Ricky "Slick Rick/Rico Suave" Rivera
Carmel Catholic- Class of '17
Notre Dame (Mendoza)- Class of '22

My Namesake
A Dim-Witted Saboteur
Yuna
Posts: 973
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2016 12:31 pm
Location: Indiana

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by A Dim-Witted Saboteur »

El Salvadoreno wrote: Honestly, I'll take the middle school housewrite compared to whatever that was last Monday. Hopefully that IHSSBCA petition comes through so they can get some good writers in.
I'm going to have missed the Mike Cheyne/Brad Fischer/Noah Prince golden age of IHSA writing by just one year. Feels pretty bad man.
Jakob M. (they/them)
Michigan State '21, Indiana '2?
"No one has ever organized a greater effort to get people interested in pretending to play quiz bowl"
-Ankit Aggarwal
User avatar
El Salvadoreno
Rikku
Posts: 346
Joined: Wed Nov 30, 2016 7:45 am
Location: Northwest Suburbs, IL

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by El Salvadoreno »

JakobeanEra wrote:I'm going to have missed the Mike Cheyne/Brad Fischer/Noah Prince golden age of IHSA writing by just one year. Feels pretty bad man.
Maybe we can playtest for them. That way we can say played a good IHSA set.
Ricky "Slick Rick/Rico Suave" Rivera
Carmel Catholic- Class of '17
Notre Dame (Mendoza)- Class of '22

My Namesake
master9017
Lulu
Posts: 18
Joined: Wed May 13, 2015 8:10 pm

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by master9017 »

A play test is a great idea, as long as they have us sign an NDA.
Addison Hagerman
Waubonsie Valley '17
User avatar
dtaylor4
Auron
Posts: 3733
Joined: Tue Nov 16, 2004 11:43 am

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by dtaylor4 »

Read all three rounds at the Glenwood sectional. IMO the second packet was the land mine this year, we should clearly start taking bets on which round is the land mine next year.

Honestly glad I'm not reading sectionals or state.
User avatar
Stained Diviner
Auron
Posts: 5085
Joined: Sun Jun 13, 2004 6:08 am
Location: Chicagoland
Contact:

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by Stained Diviner »

Good teams that lost in the 2nd round: Chicago Christian, Fremd, Junction Gallatin County, Farmer City Blue Ridge, and Springfield. It's difficult to judge how many upsets is a lot. This doesn't seem like a lot of upsets.
David Reinstein
Head Writer and Editor for Scobol Solo, Masonics, and IESA; TD for Scobol Solo and Reinstein Varsity; IHSSBCA Board Member; IHSSBCA Chair (2004-2014); PACE President (2016-2018)
A Dim-Witted Saboteur
Yuna
Posts: 973
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2016 12:31 pm
Location: Indiana

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by A Dim-Witted Saboteur »

Due to several unfortunate buzzer races, Naperville North trailed Benet by close margins in much of the first half. I believe it's safe to say that on a normal set those buzzer races would not have occurred.
Jakob M. (they/them)
Michigan State '21, Indiana '2?
"No one has ever organized a greater effort to get people interested in pretending to play quiz bowl"
-Ankit Aggarwal
nsb2
Lulu
Posts: 91
Joined: Thu Mar 05, 2015 9:05 pm
Location: Berkeley, CA

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by nsb2 »

I didn't expect anything particularly great from the set, but some of the questions looked like they were taken straight from textbooks.
Pranav Sivakumar
Barrington Station MS '13, Barrington High School --> IMSA '17
UC Berkeley '21
User avatar
dtaylor4
Auron
Posts: 3733
Joined: Tue Nov 16, 2004 11:43 am

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by dtaylor4 »

I also saw a pretty good team (Glenwood) only put up 130 against patsies. The weird answers/clues stuck out to me more from that packet than anything.
A Dim-Witted Saboteur
Yuna
Posts: 973
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2016 12:31 pm
Location: Indiana

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by A Dim-Witted Saboteur »

nsb2 wrote:I didn't expect anything particularly great from the set, but some of the questions looked like they were taken straight from Wikipedia, like IHSA questions have been in the past.
ftfy
Jakob M. (they/them)
Michigan State '21, Indiana '2?
"No one has ever organized a greater effort to get people interested in pretending to play quiz bowl"
-Ankit Aggarwal
User avatar
TylerV
Wakka
Posts: 135
Joined: Sat Feb 16, 2013 7:58 pm

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by TylerV »

JakobeanEra wrote:
nsb2 wrote:I didn't expect anything particularly great from the set, but some of the questions looked like they were taken straight from Wikipedia, like IHSA questions have been in the past.
ftfy
For what it's worth, the Mass Effect clue in the radians tossup comes directly from Simple Wikipedia.
Tyler Vaughan
UW-Platteville, Rock Valley, UIUC 2014-2017
Southern New Hampshire University 2020 - ?

"God the automatic cat feeder might be the best invention ever" - Brad McLain
User avatar
Hyrdofluoric_Acid
Lulu
Posts: 32
Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2015 8:34 pm

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by Hyrdofluoric_Acid »

A lot of the math questions seemed to be written by someone who doesn't really like math. Directional line segment?!?!? this might be the most boring math answer lines I have ever seen. They were writing a questions on vectors and this is the hard part they came up with. Also the cult of pythagoras is not really math and multiple questions on ancient geo problems. The bridges of konigsberg was just awful as the lead in involved no math. As someone who isn't inherently annoyed that one in six questions are math this tournament did not enhance that belief. The math questions were so good last year. I know it would have been absurd to ask for something near as good but the questions last year make these seem horrible. Not just bad but truly awful.
Beyond the math complaining about bonus variability will not help anything. I guess one of the fundamental struggles with these questions is that they were forced to be able to give teams that are bad a good experience which is a perfectly reasonable goal but then also tell the difference between Carmel and Loyola and Fremd and Lake Forest. This is a task which either requires amazing questions or better grouping or as we saw this year we just failed. I hope that the questions at sectionals will be better so this state tournament will be legitimate.
John W. of University of Minnesota
User avatar
John Ketzkorn
Wakka
Posts: 197
Joined: Tue Oct 08, 2013 2:54 pm

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by John Ketzkorn »

Hyrdofluoric_Acid wrote:A lot of the math questions seemed to be written by someone who doesn't really like math.
This wouldn't be an issue if IHSA accepted the fact 4/4 math is excessive.
Michael Etzkorn
Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy '16
UIUC '21
User avatar
Dominator
Tidus
Posts: 636
Joined: Sun Mar 14, 2010 9:16 pm

Re: Illinois '16-'17

Post by Dominator »

Joker wrote:
Hyrdofluoric_Acid wrote:A lot of the math questions seemed to be written by someone who doesn't really like math.
This wouldn't be an issue if IHSA accepted the fact 4/4 math is excessive.
How much would you consider not excessive?
Dr. Noah Prince

Normal Community High School (2002)
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2004, 2007, 2008)

Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy - Scholastic Bowl coach (2009-2014), assistant coach (2014-2015), well wisher (2015-2016)
guy in San Diego (2016-present)
President of Qblitz (2018-present)

Image
Locked