Academic Team wins National Literature Challenge
November 19, 2021
Hartsville, SC - On Saturday, November 13, the GSSM Academic Team won the National Literature Challenge, their third national tournament victory this year. They faced teams from Alabama, New Jersey, New York, and North Carolina.
The team's coach, Dr. Gary Salazar, said that Quiz Bowl requires knowledge in 3 major subjects - history, science, and literature. They previously won the National History Challenge in January and the National Science Challenge last month.
"Our goal for the day was simple," said Coach Salazar. "Let's accomplish something unheard of. Let's win a national championship in each of the Big 3 subjects in the same year!"
The literature team, consisting of William Ostergaard, Holly Bragdon, Eva Fulcher, and Briggs Murray, proved themselves as a force to be reckoned with by winning their first three matches by an average score of 232 to 65. Their performance placed them firmly in the #1 seed for the playoffs.
In the finals, GSSM competed against undefeated Evangel Classical from Alabama. After the first round, Evangel held a 50-40 lead. GSSM pulled far ahead in the second round by conquering the bonus questions, placing them in the lead at 135-70. The third and final round featured questions about French and Spanish, Mythology-inspired Paintings, and the Hebrew Bible. Both teams scored 60 points, putting the final score at 195-130. Another tournament victory for GSSM!