Best brains head to “battle”

Contributed
Published: May 22, 2008

For the first time in Orange County High School’s Academic Team history, members of this year’s academic team have qualified for the National Championships in Chicago, Illinois. Four members of the team, Jeremy Brown, Matthew Dermody, Reeves Garnett and Logan Hanley competed in the Battle of the Brains competition for the 2007-08 season. These team members made it to the third round (the top eight schools in the central Virginia region) in which they were defeated by Trinity School. Because of their position in the final rounds they earned the right to compete against schools from all over the United States. Matthew Dermody was chosen from all of the participants in this year’s competition to play in the all-star round (the top eight scorers in the central Virginia region).
The 2008 NAQT National High School Championship Tournament will be held in Chicago over Memorial Day weekend (May 23-25). There are 176 teams from across the United States that will participate. Teams will check-in May 23 and have the opportunity to meet each other and practice on official questions. The preliminary games will take place on Saturday and the playoff games will take place on Sunday.
Orange County Public Schools, along with coaches Linda Reith and Clysta Walters, are extremely proud of the entire team for their performance this year, both in the district competition where they ended the season in second place and their performance in the Quiz Bowl’s Battle of the Brains.
The following students represented Orange County High School on the Academic Team this year: Ryan Stanley, Matthew Dermody, Jeremy Brown, Logan Hanley, Alicia Johns, Tierney Jones, Ariel Eclipse and Reeves Garnett.
The coaches and team members would like to especially thank Orange County Public Schools, Mrs. Carol Hunter, gifted and talented coordinator and Mrs. Kim Harris, guidance counselor, for their support in making this trip possible.
Good luck in Chicago!