Difference between revisions of "Winston Churchill (MD)"

Latest revision as of 17:28, 26 August 2025


Winston Churchill High School
Location: Potomac, MD
Coaches	Ian Vickery
State Championships	Maryland
National Championships	1989 PAC
Program Status	active
School Size	2500+
NAQT Page	link

Winston Churchill High School, also known as Churchill, is a public high school in Potomac, Maryland. For a long period of time starting in the 2000s, Churchill remained dormant in pyramidal quizbowl, but regularly participated in competitions such as MABL and It's Academic. Starting in 2016, the school experienced a resurgence of players competing in pyramidal tournaments, with the school competing at the HSNCT for the first time in 2017. From 2022 to 2024, Churchill consistently managed to place in the top 50 at the HSNCT and NSC, and in the top 15 at NHBB.

History

Winston Churchill High School was established in 1964. The majority of its students come from Herbert Hoover Middle School (75%) and Cabin John Middle School (25%)^[1]. The school's current principal is Mr. John W. Taylor. The team is currently coached by Ian Vickery.

Early Era (before 2009)

There is little recorded information about Churchill's presence in quizbowl from this era. Notable Churchill graduate, author, and University of Wisconsin Madison math professor Jordan Ellenberg[2] was part of the 1989 Churchill team that won the 1989 Panasonic Academic Challenge (National Tournament of Academic Excellence).

The earliest known participation of Churchill in pyramidal quizbowl was during the 2008-2009 Academic School Year, in which Churchill competed at couple of tournaments. Some of the team's more notable results from that year include a 17th-place finish (out of a field of 44) at the 2008 Jefferson Invitational Academic Tournament hosted by Thomas Jefferson and a 10th-place finish at the Monroe Academic Tournament in 2009. After an unremarkable season, Churchill did not play any pyramidal tournaments the following year.

Pyramidal Dormancy (2009-2016)

Churchill's only early year of regularly participating in "good quizbowl" came to a close. For the next few years, Churchill would mostly compete in buzzer-based quizbowl-adjacent formats while occasionally attending a quizbowl tournament here and there.

During the 2011-2012 School Year, the school attended two known quizbowl tournaments. The first was the 2011 Blair Bash, where the A team put up a 5th-place finish (in a field of 12), while the B team got 11th place. Remarkably, an entirely different A team (besides junior Ram Jayaraman) would get fifth place (out of a field of 24) at Richard Montgomery's SWAGFEST, only behind such dominant teams as Richard Montgomery, GDS, and Montgomery Blair, and ahead of Centennial.

During the 2012-2013 School Year, the team was led by senior Captain Prithish David, and supported by senior Ram Jayaraman, and juniors Nikhil Perincherry and Yousuf Khan. During this year, the team won in a local competition known as Quizmaster Challenge, but was unable to secure a victory in their local Montgomery Academic Beltway League. The team also advanced to the final round of the statewide "It's Academic" T.V. Show, a feat not accomplished by the school in over a decade. The team came in second place losing to James Hubert Blake High School.

During the 2013-2014 School Year, the team was led by senior Captain Nikhil Perincherry, and supported by seniors Dominic Singer, Yousuf Khan, and Andrew Crutchfield. During this year the team won two local competitions: the Montgomery Academic Beltway League and MCPSTV's Quizmaster Challenge. The team also participated in It's Academic but lost to Holton Arms High School in the playoff.

During the 2014-2015 School Year, the team was led by senior Captain Yash Nigam, and supported by senior Michelle Yuen and juniors John Dorsey and Shayan Sadegh. During this year the team finished without any prizes. The team lost in the semi-finals round of It's Academic. This was also the final year in which Winston Churchill High competed on Quizmaster Challenge, for the show was cancelled after the 2014-2015 season.

During the 2015-2016 School Year, the team was led by senior Captain John Dorsey, and supported by seniors Shayan Sadegh and Mark Weinstein, and sophomore Jiawei Bai. During this year the team finished without any prizes, although came very close in multiple tournaments. The team once again lost in the semi-finals round of It's Academic, to Walt Whitman High School.

Renewed Interest in Quizbowl and National Success (2016-present)

During the 2016-2017 School Year, the team was led by junior Captain Jiawei Bai, and supported by seniors David Miller and John Sarihan as well as junior Pranav Tandon. In October 2016, the team came in 3rd place at an invitational tournament hosted by James Hubert Blake High School. The team lost in the semi-finals round of It's Academic to Blake High School.

It was also during this school year that Winston Churchill High School finally began actively participating in pyramidal quizbowl. After a competitive 7th place finish at the 2016 Centennial Invitational led in scoring by captain Jiawei Bai and senior David Miller, the team qualified for the HSNCT and finished t-97th after being knocked out in the first round of playoffs. The A team also got 4th place (out of 7) at the 2017 NAQT Maryland State Championships.

During the 2017-2018 School Year, the team was once again led by senior Captain Jiawei Bai, supported by senior Pranav Tandon, junior Melanie Heller, and sophomores Manu Sundar and Jonathan Silverman. The team was eliminated from It's Academic in the play-off round against Richard Montgomery High School.

The club competed in three local tournaments, but failed to qualify for the HSNCT after getting 17th place (out of 29) at the 2017 Centennial Invitational. At their first NSC, Winston Churchill placed 74th. This year also marks the first time Churchill attended a Johns Hopkins invitational, which the school would continue to regularly attend from there on out.

During the 2018-2019 School Year, the team once again failed to qualify for the HSNCT, but attended on a wildcard bid, once again finishing t-97th. However, they improved on their NSC performance, placing 65th.

During the 2019-2020 School Year, the team won their first local tournament, Arundel Invitational. Due to the pandemic, no national tournaments were held.

During the 2020-2021 School Year, the team remained active in quizbowl. At the HSNCT, the team finished t-72nd. Due to lead scorer Stevie Miller being missing for half the tournament, the team once again finished 74th at the NSC.

During the 2021-2022 School Year, president Stevie Miller became the driving force of the team. Stevie's commitment to the pyramidal format and his active involvement in the quizbowl community at large made this year the school's most successful yet. Among notable newcomers to the team include sophomores Alvin Guo and Kevin Peng, and junior Andy Yu. The team also retained core players Albus Du, Anand Kalla, and Harrison Benford.

At the 2022 HSNCT, Winston Churchill would place 24th overall. This marked the first time they had survived more than one round in the playoffs, and the first time they did not start in the elimination bracket. The team would also achieve its highest National History Bowl placement of 8th. At the 2022 NSC, Winston Churchill's A team missed the Tier I playoff pool brackets in a 10-point loss to University Lab. The A team finished 37th, and the B team finished 43rd. Notably, the B team's placement was higher than the A team had ever placed at previous years' NSCs.

During the 2022-2023 School Year, Kevin Peng assumed leadership of the club. Though the club's population was floundering at the beginning of the year, Kevin's aggressive marketing of the team led to an influx of new players joining. With this petit Renaissance, the team attended over a dozen tournaments over the course of the year, including another regional win at the 2023 TJIAT.

The team would continue to perform strongly at national tournaments that year. At the 2023 National History Bowl, despite a brutal run of 3 overtime games in a row (of which they lost two), the team still managed to place 13th. At the 2023 HSNCT, the A Team (Aaron Zhou, Alvin Guo, Andy Yu, Kevin Peng) was able to put up a strong 49th-place finish. At the 2023 NSC, the team posted a series of upsets against Auburn (in an overtime match), Kinkaid, and eventual 3rd place finisher Hunter. After being too cocky about beating Hunter, they were then soundly defeated by Barrington, TJ, DCC, and St. Mark's. The team ended up finishing 6th place, the school's highest ever placement at the NSC. The B Team (Bernie Jin, Claudio Bastiani-Fonck, Colette Kendrick, Key Li, Tyler Song, Ulden Gao), led in scoring by freshman Colette Kendrick and sophomore Tyler Song, placed 38th, nearly tying the previous year's A Team placement of 37th.

The 2023-2024 School Year saw Alvin and Kevin return for their final year of high school quizbowl, accompanied by sophomore Aaron Zhou with Bernie Jin or Tyler Song as the final A team member. Because of other obligations, the team was only able to play full at one tournament, the JHU Booster Shot mirror, where they placed 3rd against college teams. During the season, a team of mostly B team players would place 4th at a Montgomery Blair-hosted tournament behind only two strong Richard Montgomery teams and a TJ team.

Churchill attended the 2024 HSNCT with the goal in mind of getting the school's highest-ever placement. The team of lead scorer Kevin Peng, Aaron Zhou, Alvin Guo, and Bernie Jin beat Santa Monica to place t-8th at the tournament, securing the school's highest placement at the tournament yet. At the 2024 NSC, the A team (with Tyler Song instead of Bernie Jin) went undefeated in prelims, the first time ever for the school. Kevin Peng once again led the team in scoring, and they ended up getting 13th place overall.

The 2024-2025 School Year was conducted under the leadership of President Ulden Gao. Churchill continued to attend local tournaments regularly, including a 2nd place finish at the 2025 Johns Hopkins Spring Invitational. The A team achieved a joint 65th-place finish at the 2025 HSNCT and a 39th-place finish at the 2025 NSC, both led narrowly by junior Aaron Zhou in scoring. Senior player Tyler Song and junior Colette Kendrick also proved to be key members of their nationals team. The B team, while not as strong as previous years', were able to place 205th and 79th, respectively.

Competitions

The WCHS Quizbowl team's main focus is on pyramidal quizbowl tournaments, but also participates in the local Montgomery Academic Beltway League and It's Academic. Additionally, the school has consistently attended the National History Bee and Bowl in recent years.

Notable Members

Jordan Ellerberg '89
Derek Gritz '12
Sam Gross '12
Christopher Hazard '12
Prithish David '13
Nikhil Perincherry '14
Yash Nigam '15
Michelle Yuen '15
John Dorsey '16
Shayan Sadegh '16
Mark Weinstein '16
Jiawei Bai '18
Manu Sundar '20
Stevie Miller '22
Andy Yu '23
Alvin Guo '24
Kevin Peng '24

National Titles

Year	HSNCT	NSC	NHBB
2017	97th
2018		74th
2019	97th	65th
2021	72nd	74th	13th
2022	24th	37th/43rd	8th
2023	49th/97th	6th/38th	13th
2024	8th	13th/46th	11th
2025	65th/205th	39th/79th	14th

Succession of Titles

Panasonic Academic Challenge Champion

Preceded by

Year

Succeeded by

Rockville

1989

Ballard

@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 | }}
-'''Winston Churchill High School''', also known as Churchill, is a public high school in Potomac, Maryland. For a long period of time starting in the early 2000s, Churchill remained dormant in [[pyramidal]] quizbowl, but regularly participated in competitions such as [[Mabl|MABL]] and [[It's Academic]]. Starting in 2016, the school experienced a resurgence of players competing in pyramidal tournaments, with the school competing at the [[HSNCT]] for the first time in 2017. From 2022 to 2024, Churchill consistently managed to place in the top 50 at the HSNCT and [[NSC]], and in the top 15 at [[NHBB]].
+'''Winston Churchill High School''', also known as Churchill, is a public high school in Potomac, Maryland. For a long period of time starting in the 2000s, Churchill remained dormant in [[pyramidal]] quizbowl, but regularly participated in competitions such as [[Mabl|MABL]] and [[It's Academic]]. Starting in 2016, the school experienced a resurgence of players competing in pyramidal tournaments, with the school competing at the [[HSNCT]] for the first time in 2017. From 2022 to 2024, Churchill consistently managed to place in the top 50 at the HSNCT and [[NSC]], and in the top 15 at [[NHBB]].
 ==History==
+Winston Churchill High School was established in 1964. The majority of its students come from Herbert Hoover Middle School (75%) and Cabin John Middle School (25%)<sup>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill_High_School_(Potomac,_Maryland)]</sup>. The school's current principal is Mr. John W. Taylor. The team is currently coached by Ian Vickery.
+===Early Era (before 2009)===
+There is little recorded information about Churchill's presence in quizbowl from this era. Notable Churchill graduate, author, and University of Wisconsin Madison math professor Jordan Ellenberg[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan_Ellenberg] was part of the [[1989 Winston Churchill (MD)|1989 Churchill team]] that won the [[1989 PAC|1989 Panasonic Academic Challenge]] ([[National Tournament of Academic Excellence]]).
+The earliest known participation of Churchill in [[pyramidal]] quizbowl was during the '''2008-2009 Academic School Year''', in which Churchill competed at couple of tournaments. Some of the team's more notable results from that year include a 17th-place finish (out of a field of 44) at the 2008 Jefferson Invitational Academic Tournament hosted by [[Thomas Jefferson (VA)|Thomas Jefferson]] and a 10th-place finish at the Monroe Academic Tournament in 2009. After an unremarkable season, Churchill did not play any pyramidal tournaments the following year.
+===Pyramidal Dormancy (2009-2016)===
+Churchill's only early year of regularly participating in "[[good quizbowl]]" came to a close. For the next few years, Churchill would mostly compete in buzzer-based quizbowl-adjacent formats while occasionally attending a quizbowl tournament here and there.
-Winston Churchill High School was established in 1964. The majority of its students come from Herbert Hoover Middle School (75%) and Cabin John Middle School (25%)<sup>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill_High_School_(Potomac,_Maryland)]</sup>. The school's current principal is Mr. John W. Taylor. The team is currently coached by Ian Vickery.
+During the '''2011-2012 School Year''', the school attended two known quizbowl tournaments. The first was the 2011 [[Montgomery Blair|Blair]] Bash, where the A team put up a 5th-place finish (in a field of 12), while the B team got 11th place. Remarkably, an entirely different A team (besides junior Ram Jayaraman) would get fifth place  (out of a field of 24) at Richard Montgomery's SWAGFEST, only behind such dominant teams as Richard Montgomery, [[GDS]], and Montgomery Blair, and ahead of [[Centennial (Maryland High School)|Centennial]].
 During the '''2012-2013 School Year''', the team was led by senior Captain Prithish David, and supported by senior Ram Jayaraman, and juniors Nikhil Perincherry and Yousuf Khan. During this year, the team won in a local competition known as Quizmaster Challenge, but was unable to secure a victory in their local Montgomery Academic Beltway League. The team also advanced to the final round of the statewide "It's Academic" T.V. Show, a feat not accomplished by the school in over a decade. The team came in second place losing to [[Blake|James Hubert Blake High School]].
@@ Line 22: / Line 31: @@
 During the '''2015-2016 School Year''', the team was led by senior Captain John Dorsey, and supported by seniors Shayan Sadegh and Mark Weinstein, and sophomore Jiawei Bai. During this year the team finished without any prizes, although came very close in multiple tournaments. The team once again lost in the semi-finals round of It's Academic, to Walt Whitman High School.
+===Renewed Interest in Quizbowl and National Success (2016-present)===
 During the '''2016-2017 School Year''', the team was led by junior Captain Jiawei Bai, and supported by seniors David Miller and John Sarihan as well as junior Pranav Tandon. In October 2016, the team came in 3rd place at an invitational tournament hosted by James Hubert Blake High School. The team lost in the semi-finals round of It's Academic to Blake High School.
-It was also during this school year that Winston Churchill High School began actively participating in pyramidal quizbowl, after having previously attended some tournaments in the late 2000s. The team qualified for the HSNCT and finished t-97th after being knocked out in the first round.
+It was also during this school year that Winston Churchill High School finally began actively participating in pyramidal quizbowl. After a competitive 7th place finish at the 2016 [[Centennial Invitational]] led in scoring by captain Jiawei Bai and senior David Miller, the team qualified for the HSNCT and finished t-97th after being knocked out in the first round of playoffs. The A team also got 4th place (out of 7) at the 2017 NAQT Maryland State Championships.
-During the '''2017-2018 School Year''', the team was led by senior Captain Jiawei Bai, supported by senior Pranav Tandon, junior Melanie Heller, and sophomores Manu Sundar and Jonathan Silverman. The team was eliminated from It's Academic in the play-off round against Richard Montgomery High School.
+During the '''2017-2018 School Year''', the team was once again led by senior Captain Jiawei Bai, supported by senior Pranav Tandon, junior Melanie Heller, and sophomores Manu Sundar and Jonathan Silverman. The team was eliminated from It's Academic in the play-off round against Richard Montgomery High School.
-The club competed in three local tournaments, but failed to qualify for the HSNCT. At their first NSC, Winston Churchill placed 74th.
+The club competed in three local tournaments, but failed to qualify for the HSNCT after getting 17th place (out of 29) at the 2017 Centennial Invitational. At their first NSC, Winston Churchill placed 74th. This year also marks the first time Churchill attended a [[Johns Hopkins]] invitational, which the school would continue to regularly attend from there on out.
 During the '''2018-2019 School Year''', the team once again failed to qualify for the HSNCT, but attended on a wildcard bid, once again finishing t-97th. However, they improved on their NSC performance, placing 65th.
@@ Line 35: / Line 46: @@
 During the '''2019-2020 School Year''', the team won their first local tournament, Arundel Invitational. Due to the pandemic, no national tournaments were held.
-During the '''2020-2021 School Year''', the team remained active. At the HSNCT, the team finished t-72nd. Due to lead scorer Stevie Miller being missing for half the tournament, the team once again finished 74th at the NSC.
+During the '''2020-2021 School Year''', the team remained active in quizbowl. At the HSNCT, the team finished t-72nd. Due to lead scorer [[Stevie Miller]] being missing for half the tournament, the team once again finished 74th at the NSC.
-During the '''2021-2022 School Year''', Stevie Miller became the driving force of the team. Sophomores Alvin Guo and Kevin Peng and junior Andy Yu all began actively playing that year. Retaining core players Albus Du, Anand Kalla, and Harrison Benford, the team continued to participate in pyramidal tournaments regularly.
+During the '''2021-2022 School Year''', president Stevie Miller became the driving force of the team. Stevie's commitment to the pyramidal format and his active involvement in the quizbowl community at large made this year the school's most successful yet. Among notable newcomers to the team include sophomores Alvin Guo and Kevin Peng, and junior Andy Yu. The team also retained core players Albus Du, Anand Kalla, and Harrison Benford.
-At the [[2022 HSNCT]], Winston Churchill would place 24th overall. This marked the first time they had survived more than one round in the playoffs, and the first time they did not start in the elimination bracket. The team would also achieve its highest National History Bowl placement of 8th. At the [[2022 NSC]], Winston Churchill's A team missed the Tier I playoff pool brackets in a 10-point loss to University Lab, due to Alvin Guo misremembering the color (yellow, despite looking orange) of the bed of the Bedroom in Arles after having viewed it at the Art Institute of Chicago the day prior. The A team finished 37th, and the B team finished 43rd. Notably, the B team's placement was higher than the A team had ever placed at previous years' NSCs.
+At the [[2022 HSNCT]], Winston Churchill would place 24th overall. This marked the first time they had survived more than one round in the playoffs, and the first time they did not start in the elimination bracket. The team would also achieve its highest National History Bowl placement of 8th. At the [[2022 NSC]], Winston Churchill's A team missed the Tier I playoff pool brackets in a 10-point loss to [[University Lab]]. The A team finished 37th, and the B team finished 43rd. Notably, the B team's placement was higher than the A team had ever placed at previous years' NSCs.
 During the '''2022-2023 School Year''', Kevin Peng assumed leadership of the club. Though the club's population was floundering at the beginning of the year, Kevin's aggressive marketing of the team led to an influx of new players joining. With this petit Renaissance, the team attended over a dozen tournaments over the course of the year, including another regional win at the 2023 [[TJIAT]].