St. Margaret's
| St. Margaret's Tartans | |
| |
|---|---|
| Location: San Juan Capistrano, California | |
| Club Presidents | Nate Kang |
| Coaches | Simon Fellowes (History Bowl, de facto) Jeff Jablonski (General quizbowl) |
| State Championships | 2019 (NHBB San Diego, JV Division) |
| National Championships | none |
| National Appearances | Nat'l History Bowl: 2019, 19th place |
| Program Status | Active |
| School Size | 474 in Upper School (Grade 9-12) |
| NAQT Page | link |
The St. Margaret's quizbowl and history bowl teams (also listed as "St. Margaret's Episcopal" in rankings & standings) have represented the Tartans of St. Margaret's Episcopal School in San Juan Capistrano, CA since the beginning of the 2018-19 high school competition season. The program was established in 2018 by history specialist Nate Kang in his first year attending the school.
Though the schools themselves are not really rivals anywhere else, when it comes to quizbowl and history competitions, the Tartans maintain a friendly rivalry with Arcadia. In all, the two schools have met 10 times (including Arcadia's A, C, D, and E teams) over the course of 4 different competitions since the SMES program's inception, with St. Margaret's winning 7 of those games.
Accolades, Trophies, & Titles Won
In February 2019, at Canyon Crest Academy in San Diego, St. Margaret's took home its first official hardware, winning its first-ever history bowl Regional Championship in the JV division. Going 6-0 in the competition, SMES defeated Arcadia C by 70 in the final to hoist the trophy. (The round was moderated by tournament director Noah Prince.) Freshman Nate Kang played solo in the bowl at this tournament and also won the regional championship in the bee on the same day.
On March 30, 2019, the Tartans won the ReKT II quizbowl tournament, hosted by Westview High, in the JV division. Nate Kang led all players with 123.64 ppg across all stages of the competition. They again defeated a team from Arcadia (this time, Arcadia D) in the final to win the title.
In April 2019, Kang soloed St. Margaret's junior varsity team to a 10-4 record at nats, good for a 19th place finish nationwide at the 2019 National History Bowl national championships in Arlington, VA.
Current roster
J.V.
- Nate Kang (captain)
- Nirmay Nanjappa*
- Hunter Smith*
Varsity
- Lauren Spalding (captain)
- Ian Schulze
- Nihar Nanjappa*
- Matthew Rosenthal*
*= not an active player (no tournament experience as of May 2019).