New England Discussion '17-'18

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New England Discussion '17-'18

Post by raginbulls »

In this thread, discuss New England teams and players for the 2017-2018 season. Feel free to discuss predictions for upcoming tournaments as well.
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Re: New England Discussion '17-'18

Post by circador »

I believe Team Vincent will find moderate success at the upcoming tournament. If he wants to perform well in the prelims, he will have to get a good night's sleep and a healthy, nutritious breakfast. I would also recommend eating a protein-packed, carbohydrate-rich lunch to fuel the afternoon games.
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Re: New England Discussion '17-'18

Post by 34 + P.J. Dozier »

I will try my hand at some sort of discussion post after PAWT (to get a more accurate gauge of other teams), but for now, I think it is safe to say that despite the loss of some very important players, MA quizbowl is still thriving. I'm excited to see how things go from here (particularly as somebody who, compared to many of the players here, is comparatively new to quizbowl).
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Re: New England Discussion '17-'18

Post by raginbulls »

With PAWT just under a week away, I would like to say that I am very excited about the tournament. It should be a great opportunity for some of the newer teams to get a feel for the game while also being competitive for the more experienced teams. In terms of predictions, I don't know if there is clear favorite to win. Personally, I feel that games in the upper bracket are always close, with teams frequently trading off wins and losses with one another. I look forward to what should be an exciting day of quiz bowl.
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Re: New England Discussion '17-'18

Post by Ozymandias314 »

circador wrote:I believe Team Vincent will find moderate success at the upcoming tournament. If he wants to perform well in the prelims, he will have to get a good night's sleep and a healthy, nutritious breakfast. I would also recommend eating a protein-packed, carbohydrate-rich lunch to fuel the afternoon games.
Wow it's interesting how you refer to "Team Vincent" as a "he", almost as if its a solo team. In my personal opinion, team Vincent will perform less well than he expects to, and possibly end up tanking the prelims for stat padding in the middle bracket.
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Re: New England Discussion '17-'18

Post by Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov »

I think Team Vincent needs to believe in himself. The key to success is self-love and belief in oneself. Team Vincent needs to rid himself of the attitude of "I will not do well and that is because I am bad" and adopt the attitude of "Hey! I can be good if I believe in myself a little bit more than I do now!" I believe in Team Vincent because I think that Team Vincent can do whatever he sets his heart on. Go Team Vincent! I think Team Vincent is the favorite to win the Philips Academy Winter Tournament.
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Re: New England Discussion '17-'18

Post by 34 + P.J. Dozier »

Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov wrote:I think Team Vincent needs to believe in himself. The key to success is self-love and belief in oneself. Team Vincent needs to rid himself of the attitude of "I will not do well and that is because I am bad" and adopt the attitude of "Hey! I can be good if I believe in myself a little bit more than I do now!" I believe in Team Vincent because I think that Team Vincent can do whatever he sets his heart on. Go Team Vincent! I think Team Vincent is the favorite to win the Philips Academy Winter Tournament.
I just shed a tear.
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Re: New England Discussion '17-'18

Post by RicardoDA »

Sadly, despite his valiant efforts, Team Vincent's own predictions came true, and he did not prevail at PAWT. He did, however, neg 8 times in one round in playoffs. Perhaps he would benefit from the positive self-talk Nick suggested, and maybe he will redeem himself at LIIIMIT?
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Re: New England Discussion '17-'18

Post by 34 + P.J. Dozier »

Aight, since I'm not doing any work in my Econ class right now, here’s my aforementioned attempt at a discussion post about teams. This is not really in any particular order, and I did not include teams I haven’t played against. I also did not include non-MA teams because I don’t know much about them, but I would like to give a shoutout to Hanover for their outstanding performance at PAWT!

Lexington: Lex A is yet again the team to beat this year, with victories at MIT Fall and PAWT. Despite the loss of a certain MA quizbowl god, their remaining team members (led by Nick) are continuing to improve and dominate. Lex runs into a little more difficulty when playing without Nick, but the remarkable skill of the other members still buoys the team and ensures consistent success.

Acton-Boxborough: A-B's core trio of Sky, Prat, and Caleb has perhaps some of the strongest synergy in the entire circuit, and when playing together, they are incredibly formidable due to the sheer breadth of coverage. However, A-B sometimes splits their A-team among their other teams, so their tournament performance can be variable at times.

Phillips Academy: Phillips has had an impressive showing this year (including a victory at CMFT), and they have many skilled players in their roster. From what I have seen, they are one of the most balanced teams (so much so that it’s difficult for me to praise any specific person), so their performance is consistently great (even pulling an upset against Lex A at MIT Fall), even if their roster appears to fluctuate pretty often.

Andover: Andover, headed up by the formidable duo of Frank and Neil, has had some very strong showings at tournaments, including taking second place at MIT Fall and third place at PAWT. Even more impressive is the fact that, from what I’ve heard, they’re a comparatively new team. Overall, they are certainly a force to be reckoned with, and matches against them have aways been very close, intense, and down to the wire.

Belmont: I would say that we're a bit of an odd team. With me officially joining the team this year as a fine arts specialist, our coverage has become quite vast, and as such, we have pulled upsets against teams like Andover, AMSA A, and a Nick Rommel-led Lex C. While our performance can be quite variable and we have yet to securely crack the upper echelons of the circuit, we are certainly on an upward trajectory.

AMSA: AMSA is very formidable when playing with their top scorer Abhiram (apparently taking 1st place at Plymouth), but without him, they run into a little bit of trouble. While the other team members are all very strong and capable, it is understandably difficult for them to take on teams that they can normally beat with Abhiram without him. However, this is not to say that they are not an outstanding team, as matches with them still tend to be challenging and close.

Hingham: Last year, Hingham had an incredibly strong season, but lost their entire A team, and as such, is currently rebuilding. However, while they have not been achieving at the same excellent level as their team did last year, they are certainly on the up-and-up. I have no doubt that they will regain their momentum in the near future.

Boston Latin: PAWT was the first time that I ever played them, so my knowledge of BLS is a little sparse. They certainly have a lot of potential, but their performance seems to be a little variable at times (to their credit, they managed to do fairly well in the top bracket at PAWT). With time, I think they will definitely reach their full potential and excel.

Quiz Show teams that have not come to a quiz bowl tournament this year: Obviously, they were at least good enough at trivia to make it onto HSQS, so I would assume that they would perform at least somewhat well at a quiz bowl tournament. Some of these teams, like Newton North and Brookline, have had some very strong years in the past, so if they were to get involved in the circuit again this year, they could potentially do some damage.
Last edited by 34 + P.J. Dozier on Fri Jan 05, 2018 1:29 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: New England Discussion '17-'18

Post by troyharris »

Thanks for doing this. Being that this is a New England thread, it would be hard to talk about New England powers without including New Hampshire at this point. Hanover has been fantastic in their past 3 events, showing strongly at Harvard and then making the finals at both PHAT and PAWT. They are very well-coached and have tremendous balance, as witnessed by their individual scoring at Phillips. Plymouth Regional also needs to be in the discussion. They finished 12th at SSNCT last year, including a huge win over SSNCT power Russell, KY. They were one sudden-death toss-up loss to Bard A away from the championship bracket at Yale Fall, made the championship bracket at Harvard fall, which included carrying a lead into the second half against national power Hoover, hanging tough with Lehigh Valley, and almost pulling off an upset over Trinity in the last match of the day. They finished second to AMSA at Plymouth (with Abirham), and beat both AMSA and Phillips in the prelims, and they won PHAT, New England's largest tournament, finally getting over the hump of beating a very deep and talented Essex team, following that up by nipping Hanover in the finals. Sophomore Rhys Harris has been high scorer in four of the last five events, dating back to Brainbusters Spring (Prison Bowl) last year (including Yale Fall combined this year), and has been over 100 pp20tuh in each event outside of Harvard Fall, where he finished in the top 10. Both Hanover and Plymouth have seen their bonus points average steadily rise over throughout the year, and both teams will continue to be formidable opponents to any team they face this year. Both teams have hosted and will be hosting their own NAQT events this year to try to spur the growth of pyramidal quiz bowl in New Hampshire (September 30 and March 3).
Last edited by troyharris on Tue Dec 19, 2017 3:19 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: New England Discussion '17-'18

Post by High Dependency Unit »

Since Connecticut is also part of New England:

Darien is not as good as in the past 2 years, but is very likely the second-best team in New England (to a full Lexington A). Julia Tong is a very talented player, but the team's younger players will need to step up if the team wants to be in the national top 25.

Greens Farms: Karsten Rynearson won SCOP Novice at Hunter, defeating Bard in the finals, solo. He was the second-highest scorer at Yale FAcT, ahead of Rhys Harris (of Plymouth). He's in 8th grade. As with what often comes with having an 8th grader dominate juniors and seniors in scoring, the team has had some communication issues. But John, Willem, and Win are all solid players as well, and this team is not one to take lightly.

Wilton: Alexander Koutsoukos is really good on NAQT sets, less so on housewrites. They've had a lot of success against Darien in the past, which opens up the state championship race.

Expect some of these teams to make noise at BHSAT.
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Re: New England Discussion '17-'18

Post by troyharris »

Michael is correct-Karsten was ahead of Rhys in prelims. Rhys pulled ahead in combined in the afternoon.
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Re: New England Discussion '17-'18

Post by Akolluri »

I think that this is going to be a very interesting year for New England Quizbowl in general. The stalwart teams from a few years ago (AMSA, Phillips, Lexington, Acton-Boxboro) are still very competitive, but the rise in new powerhouses like Andover and Plymouth will make the competition even more exiting in the future.The two I mentioned above have shown massive growth in particular, and I think that the circuit as a whole should feel proud about what New England Quizbowlers have accomplished.
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Re: New England Discussion '17-'18

Post by Ozymandias314 »

I suppose after LIIIMIT is when I attempt a stab at some sort of discussion, although I will notably still focus on MA teams simply due to my lack of knowledge of other circuits.

Tier 1, in no particular order, just in a certain order:

Lexington A: One of the strongest teams in the circuit, per usual. Nick Rommel may be the strongest individual player in the state, especially due to his dominance in history and geo. His teammates, Charles Yang and David Arena are not too far behind. However, the full A team has yet to play at a HS tournament, although they did manage to put up a respectable performance at EFT@Yale. We will have to wait till BHSAT to evaluate them at full strength.

Phillips Academy A: Yes, I do go to this school. I'd like to make the case that we're the most balanced team in the entire circuit. None of our scoring numbers jump out, but we have enough competent players to fill up two teams provided that everyone is actually in attendance. Our strengths are rather spread out, there's no subject we particularly dominate (except maybe the niche of Mathematics), but we've managed to put up relatively strong performances at most tournaments so far, provided that we don't lose focus/motivation in the afternoon.

AMSA A: Another one of the strongest programs in the entire tournament. Abhiram is always a formidable opponent to go against, and his teammates also bring a fair amount of knowledge with them as well. Games against them are always close, and they recently had an impressive performance, bringing back the win at LIIIIMIT. The winning tradition of this program will almost definitely allow them to be a fairly strong team for years to come.

A-B A: Sky and Prat are a strong duo, both putting up some high scoring performances this year. Both are fairly complete players, and their teammates also bring something to the table as well.

Andover A: Frank Cai has gotten very very good over the past year, especially in Lit and FA. His teammate Neil Patel also contributes a fair amount to the scoring load. However, the scoring is quite limited besides those two. Despite that, they've still managed to put up very strong performances on NAQT sets (getting 2nd several times), although perhaps less so on harder sets (HFT).

Tier 2, also in no particular order:

Plymouth A: I'm hesitant to put Plymouth into the 2nd tier because to be rather honest, the scoring is still mostly limited to just Rhys Harris, who is an extremely strong player, consistently putting up prolific scoring numbers. The trouble with teams like this is that they will ultimately still have a slightly harder time against teams whose scoring is distributed in a more balanced manner.

Belmont A: Cameron is very talented, and newcomer to the Circuit (I think) Wonyoung also impressed at LIIIMIT. I'm still not completely sure as to how strong they are as I've only played them once so far. I certainly have confidence that they can improve drastically if they study hard throughout the year.

Hanover A: Hanover has some fairly balanced scoring, and put up quite a nice performance at PAWT, finishing second. The only reason for why I'm not completely sold on their strength is probably their HFT performance, although that may have simply been not-the-best day, or not the best set for them.

BLS A: They have a few strong players, although I've yet to play them enough/watch them play to really be able to say anything that substantial.

And that about finishes my analysis, feel free to tell me if you disagree, also apologies, because I'm probably not very good at this.

Also, update on Team Vincent: After a whopping 25 negs at PAWT, including 8 in one game against his own teammate, he managed to reduce his negs to only TWO(!!??) at LIIIMIT, with ZERO(!!!!????) during playoffs, so perhaps Nick's message of self-love really did come across to him. He thanks Nick for this (also his teammates, of course). However, he is also the proud owner of the "Neg Lifetime Achievement Award", courtesy of his "main man", Charles Yang.
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Re: New England Discussion '17-'18

Post by 34 + P.J. Dozier »

Ozymandias314 wrote: Belmont A: Cameron is very talented, and newcomer to the Circuit (I think) Wonyoung also impressed at LIIIMIT. I'm still not completely sure as to how strong they are as I've only played them once so far. I certainly have confidence that they can improve drastically if they study hard throughout the year.
Thanks Vincent! I definitely agree with your whole analysis and ranking, not just of our team, but of the entire circuit. In regards to Belmont A, while we have been garnering stronger showings recently (beating Andover at HFT and AMSA A at LIIIMIT), we will need to improve our consistency in order for us to truly excel. We're getting there, though!

And yes, to confirm: I am comparatively new to quizbowl (my first tournament was this past March, so I'm just shy of a year). I'm incredibly thankful that the community as a whole has been so helpful and accepting – I certainly would not have grown so fond of quizbowl or improved as a player without the guidance of my team and the other MA teams.
Ozymandias314 wrote: Also, update on Team Vincent: After a whopping 25 negs at PAWT, including 8 in one game against his own teammate, he managed to reduce his negs to only TWO(!!??) at LIIIMIT, with ZERO(!!!!????) during playoffs, so perhaps Nick's message of self-love really did come across to him. He thanks Nick for this (also his teammates, of course). However, he is also the proud owner of the "Neg Lifetime Achievement Award", courtesy of his "main man", Charles Yang.
I'm glad to hear that Team Vincent has risen from the ashes. I look forward to seeing Team Vincent win HSNCT and PACE.
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Re: New England Discussion '17-'18

Post by Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov »

After States, here is my take on how teams will do at HSNCT:

Andover High: Although I'm sure they had their sights set on winning the state championship, Andover is still one of the best teams in New England and the Northeast, especially as they have become less and less of a one-man team throughout the year. Even though Frank is a lit specialist they seem to do quite well on NAQT sets and scale up well, and their consistent second and third place finishes throughout the regular season make them a likely contender for peaking around HSNCT, a tournament that, in my experience, usually brings out people's best quizbowl selves.
Prediction: 8-2

Phillips Academy: Even though they lack a super consistent lineup, Phillips Academy is tied for the most MA tournament wins this year with Lexington (2 each). I'd say this is the most balanced team in the circuit and most of their players have been to nationals before and some have made playoffs. This could be the year for them to make a deeper run, but Vincent Fan's (top scorer at their last tournament) performance at his first ever nationals could be crucial.
Prediction: 7-3

Acton-Boxborough: Acton-Boxborough did not have a consistent A team lineup either throughout the year, but what (appears to be?) their true A team did very well at States, getting pretty unlucky in the final. Similarly to PA, most of their players are experienced and have been to nationals before, a huge plus. Led in scoring by Sky and Prat, my only concern is their BHSAT performance (5-5, missing Prat), their only tournament against teams outside the circuit. Keep in mind they are one of 4 MA teams that have won a tournament this year.
Prediction: 6-4

Belmont: Belmont, in what seems to be a trend in New England, did not play their nationals A team until late in the year, but their team is quite balanced. Wonyoung has developed into a a superb humanities player (if they were going to PACE I could see them doing better there), but still led his team in scoring yesterday – a balanced performance by the team that saw them get an impressive third place. If they can keep up their momentum and perform up to their capabilities at HSNCT, I can see them making playoffs, but out of all New England teams, Belmont is the hardest for me to predict.
Prediction: 6-4

Boston Latin School: I must admit I was surprised to see Boston Latin qualified for nationals, but upon playing them more I realized they are very capable of winning tough games against good teams. However, they don't strike me as a very consistent team, given their 6-5 record at states and players' individual performances. In past years, I'd say this wouldn't indicate potential for a good run at HSNCT, but this year's circuit is the most balanced in recent history and I see BLS as a contender for making playoffs, though not a favorite to do so.
Prediction: 5-5

Hanover: This team's dedication to quizbowl is very impressive, regularly driving multiple hours down from their ice-bound homeland. It bore fruit - Hanover A's (as far as I know, this wasn't even their full A team, just half of it) third-highest PPB at states is impressive to say the least. They, too, have gone to nationals before and considering they are one of the only teams in New England with a coach, should be well-prepared. This is a tossup (no pun intended), but given their 4-6 record last year, I think there will be slight improvement, but not enough.
Prediction: 5-5

Lexington: Our performances this year have been worse than last year, unsurprisingly. I am nowhere near the player Colin was (yet? maybe...) so I don't think we will finish 9th place, or close to it, again. However, we are tied for the most tournament wins and we did place second at BHSAT behind Hunter. Considering that NAQT sets, not housewrites, are our strength, this is a good sign. My teammates continue to impress me, with Charles' huge improvement, David's inability to neg while still racking up points, and Brendan's once-per-packet powers in pretty much any category. If I am able to stop harming the team by negging us out of contention I think we will have a good run.
Prediction: 7-3

It is worth mentioning that AMSA is the only New England team going to PACE so far, and led by Abhiram, and with one tournament win under their belt, I can see them doing well there.

Good luck to teams competing at BAIT or NHBB nationals, and I can't wait to see all of you at HSNCT! It's been a great season and I am blown away by this circuit. I thought it would crumble this season, but instead, MA/NH is sending its largest ever group of teams to nationals!
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Re: New England Discussion '17-'18

Post by 34 + P.J. Dozier »

Thanks to Nick for kicking off nationals discussions! I figured that I should pitch in my two cents as well.

As a whole, I wouldn’t expect MA quizbowl to represent themselves as strongly at HSNCT on the surface – I doubt any of us will be breaking T-25 range – but I do think that our successes will be less pointed (as in, it won’t be just one team making a good run into playoffs).

As for how I structured this, I took into account tournament results, Morlan rankings (as of 3/30, so this will not account for SCT D2 at States and Prison Bowl at BAIT), and other relevant factors. In the instances of team rosters that I am not quite as familiar with, I either guessed who would be on the roster or left a spot or two blank. Also, note that my predicted placements are approximations and are taken from last year’s, which will probably not hold constant due to the increased field.

Below are my predictions and analysis:

Lexington (Nick Rommel, Charles Yang, David Arena, Brendan Cantwell) – 7-3; T-25
Notable results: 1st at MIT Fall; 2nd at CMFT; 1st at PAWT; 2nd at BHSAT; 3rd at FACTS; 2nd at SPIT; 1st at States
Morlan rank: #97 – 21.88, 20.95, 20.95

Lexington A returns two members from their HSNCT T-9 finish last year, and while they have obviously been recovering from the loss of Colin Cantwell, they have been doing so fairly well. Nick is probably the best geography player in the country (so the NAQT distribution is particularly kind to this team) and also has deep knowledge in history, visual arts, and, as we know all too well, jazz. Charles, David, and Brendan are all very talented generalists that should be able to reliably cover the rest of the distribution. However, they are also probably one of the more inconsistent teams in the region – while I can see them pulling a wild upset against a top team, they could also very well blow a match against a team that they could have beaten. As long as they work to patch up whatever holes they may have and stay focused, they have the potential to make a deep run.

Phillips Academy A (Vincent Fan, Eric You, Anna Cambron, Carson Teitler) – 7-3; T-25
Notable results: 1st at CMFT; 3rd at LIIIMIT; 1st at SPIT
Morlan rank: #74 – 22.51, 21.62, 21.35

While Lexington may have the most firepower of all the teams in the area, Phillips A makes up for it with iron-clad consistency. Vincent, their star generalist, is one of the region’s best players and is only getting better now that he’s curbed his negging habit. Eric is quite possibly the best science player in the area and covers his specialities very well, and Anna and Carson fill out key niches in literature and history. The astonishing range of their coverage and low neg numbers should allow them to cruise into playoffs without too much trouble, but whether they can make a deep run depends on whether or not they burn out too soon from fatigue.

Andover A (Frank Cai, Neil Patel, Ayan Chowdhury, Omkar Savkur) – 7-3; T-41
Notable results: 2nd at MIT Fall; 3rd at PAWT; 2nd at LIIIMIT; 1st at OATH; 2nd at FACTS
Morlan rank: #122 – 21.03, 20.86, 20.51

Andover’s rise, from going 5-5 at HSNCT last year to becoming a Northeast powerhouse this year, has been both formidable and impressive. Frank is definitely the best literature player in the area (seriously, look at those powers!) and can reliably nail most other categories. However, I think people have been sleeping on Neil – a very impressive player in his own right, he covers everything Frank doesn’t cover and covers it very well (especially trash, geography, and science). Unfortunately, scoring is generally pretty limited to just Frank and Neil, which can pose a problem: this inconsistency could mean that they are liable to fall to more balanced teams despite a strong performance in prelims (à la Barrington at HSNCT 2017). If their teammates are able to cram in the final stretch leading up to nationals, Andover has a much higher chance of making a deep run.

Acton-Boxborough A (Prat Hegde, Sky Li, Caleb Trotz) – 7-3; T-41
Notable results: 3rd at MIT Fall; 3rd at OATH; 1st at FACTS; 2nd at States
Morlan rank: #96 – 21.72, 21.32, 21.29

A-B’s performances have been confusing, to say the least, although this is most likely because of their frequent habit of splitting their teams. This is not to say that they are bad – their Morlan rank and tournament performances speak for themselves, and Prat, Sky, and Caleb are all INSANELY talented generalists – but it does make it difficult for me to assess them. Their only tournament win of the year, FACTS, was achieved without their top scorer (Prat), which certainly does speak to the impressive talent of his other teammates. However, their BHSAT and OATH performances, which were with similar rosters, were less successful, and their performance at LIIIMIT, with what I suspect is their full lineup, also fell short as well. From what I’ve seen of them, their team is composed basically entirely of skilled and talented generalists (aside from Sky’s fine arts prowess). However, this is not necessarily beneficial at HSNCT, where deeper knowledge in specialized fields has historically been more key to making a deep run than generalization across the board. Committing to deeper studying and keeping their negs low will serve this team well.

Belmont A (Wonyoung Jang, Cameron Anderson, Eva Hill, Eliana Roberts) – 6-4; T-65
Notable results: 2nd at OATH; 3rd at States
Morlan rank: #142 – 21.09, 19.71, 19.65

I like to think that our team is a bit of a black horse. We certainly are much better than we were at the beginning of the year, and I think that our rate of improvement is probably the best in the circuit this year – we have taken games from some of the region’s best teams and have had some pretty solid tournament showings. As long as I don’t make dumb mistakes (which, by the way, happens more than it should), I can reasonably cover fine arts and, to a lesser extent, literature and philosophy. Cam, as a history and science juggernaut, covers everything else that I fail to cover, and Eliana and Eva nail trash, myth, and other incredibly crucial niches. I’d also like to make the case that we’re slightly under-ranked due to literally never having played with our nationals A team until the second half of States yesterday. Despite all this, we still have much to improve on, including our ability to scale up to harder sets – while we scaled up decently as a team yesterday on SCT D2 (getting third!), I think that our individual stats show that we still have a ways to go before we can prove our mettle on a set like HSNCT. Fortunately, I think that we’ll be pushing and studying hard through this last stretch, but like Nick said, it is difficult to ascertain how we’ll do as of now.

Hanover A (Hayden Smith, Jack Burnham, Oliver Minshall, Liam Szczepiorkowski) – 6-4; T-97
Notable results: 2nd at PAWT
Morlan rank: #107 – 21.80, 20.36

You know how I said Phillips has some of the most balanced scoring in the region? Hanover is 100% the most balanced team, with each player contributing what they need to contribute, and doing so incredibly well. Hayden in particular has had some impressive showings this year, and he, along with the rest of the team, only continues to get better. Hanover’s dedication to improving and attending tournaments is incredibly impressive (seriously, driving two hours to attend MA tournaments? How do they do it?), and their coach, Gabe Brison-Trezise, is an amazing leader and has cultivated a strong program. The issue I see with this team is largely based around the strategic aspects of the game – knowing whether to buzz or not to buzz, staying alert for buzzer races, and so on. Their PPBs show that this team has the knowledge they need to succeed, but if they can achieve greater finesse with the strategic aspects, they could make a good run into playoffs.

Boston Latin A (Christy Jestin, Nicholas Weiske, Austin Wang, Joseph Terrey) – 5-5
Notable results: N/A
Morlan rank: N/A

While I’m sure most people were surprised by Boston Latin qualifying for HSNCT at KPAQT, they have definitely proved that they deserve to be attending nationals. Boston Latin’s uniquely aggressive playing style and proficiency in science has allowed them to take games from some of the best teams in the area at times, and I am very impressed by their improvement over the course of this year. However, this aggressive playing style has proven to be a double-edged sword – they have a problematic negging habit (most of their recent tournaments show that they tend to end tournaments with more negs than powers under their belt) that will prove to be a massive liability when up against more consistent teams. Additionally, they are weak in literature (although I heard that they’ve just recently begun studying literature to ameliorate this issue), which, since it makes up a good chunk of the distribution, could prove to be an issue. If they patch up their weaknesses and tone down the aggressive negging, they could make it into playoffs, but as of now, they need to improve their consistency in order to do so.

Phillips Academy B – 5-5
Notable results: N/A
Morlan rank: N/A

I’m not too familiar with the exact roster of Phillips B, but I do know that Lasal and Nick are definitely standout players who are only getting better and better. I don’t see them making it into playoffs as of now, but who knows?

Hanover B – 4-6
Notable results: N/A
Morlan rank: N/A

I am even less familiar with the exact roster of Hanover B, but my experience with them has shown me that they have quite a deep bench of proficient developing players (Simon Herron in particular has stood out to me among them). These players could be very strong come next year.

In any case, I'm excited for these final months of my (admittedly ephemeral) high school playing career and for New England quizbowl to have its largest showing at HSNCT this year! I hope to see all of you at BAIT as well, by the way. :)
Wonyoung Jang
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Re: New England Discussion '17-'18

Post by troyharris »

Quick correction. AMSA is not the only team going to PACE. Plymouth is also going.
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Re: New England Discussion '17-'18

Post by High Dependency Unit »

troyharris wrote:Quick correction. AMSA is not the only team going to PACE. Plymouth is also going.
As are Darien and Wilton, to the best of my knowledge.
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Re: New England Discussion '17-'18

Post by Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov »

I was focusing on MA/NH teams just because Connecticut teams don't play up here usually. Sorry for omitting PRHS, when I wrote this post PACE hadn't updated their field to include them. I actually haven't played Plymouth in quizbowl at all this year so I don't really have any predictions, but they definitely seem stronger than last year so I wouldn't be surprised if they end the tournament with at least a winning record.
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Re: New England Discussion '17-'18

Post by troyharris »

No worries! Our nationals preference was to go to SSNCT where we really fit best, but the conflict with History Bowl forced us to make a tough call. With many of our players qualifying for both team and individual events, we went with History Bowl PACE falls on graduation day, so we are going to bring sophomores and a freshman to PACE to get them some more nationals exposure and qualify in the SS and JV divisions, hopefully get all four players to ACE this summer, and keep the program growing into next year. I have only been on the QB scene around here for a few years, but this year especially it was nice to see that NH was competitive with Massachusetts schools, and seeing Rhode Island throwing teams in the ring is great to see! Vermont has long been established and has a great league, and word is we have at least one team from Maine that is interested in getting rolling in quiz bowl as well to add to the long-established powers in Massachusetts and Connecticut. With a whole lot of really, really good, young quiz bowlers all around New England right now, the future looks really bright.
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Re: New England Discussion '17-'18

Post by 34 + P.J. Dozier »

I also left out non-HSNCT attending teams in my analysis as well as teams that don't frequently compete in our circuit, but Plymouth is indeed very impressive for a team of younger folks (I was shocked to hear that Rhys is only a sophomore!). I can see them becoming even more of a regional powerhouse in the future, and I would not be surprised at all to see Plymouth do well at PACE.

Aside from Plymouth, an emerging power that has literally come out of nowhere and is worth keeping an eye on is Barrington (Rhode Island). Daniel Sheinberg's stats are seriously impressive, especially considering that he got 65 PPG on FACTS at what appeared to be his first tournament. I was also impressed by Merrimack's performance at OATH (pulling off a narrow upset against Plymouth), considering they seemed to be dipping their toes in pyramidal quizbowl for the first time.
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Re: New England Discussion '17-'18

Post by troyharris »

I hope to see all New England teams do well at HSNCT. I am especially pulling for Hanover to have a big tournament in Atlanta. As was pointed previously, Gabe does an incredible job coaching them, they are as well-balanced as any team in New England, and have also had some tremendous individual performances recently with both Hayden and Liam being at or near the top of the leaderboard at MIT and Vermont States respectively. I expect them to surprise a lot of teams that maybe don't know much about them. They are really good.
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Re: New England Discussion '17-'18

Post by troyharris »

Wonyoung-I also expect your team to do well there. From the few chances we have had to play your team, your team is quick on the buzzer and has solid canon coverage.
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Re: New England Discussion '17-'18

Post by Couch's Kingbird »

High Dependency Unit wrote:
troyharris wrote:Quick correction. AMSA is not the only team going to PACE. Plymouth is also going.
As are Darien and Wilton, to the best of my knowledge.
Can confirm that Darien will be at PACE, though with a slightly weaker team.

EDIT TO ADD: I don't feel qualified enough to type up a report about teams in the region (I'll certainly overlook some, and I haven't played everyone), but I will definitely jump in with more details about teams (and Darien specifically).
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