Kings Park
| Kings Park High School | |
| |
|---|---|
| Location: Kings Park, New York | |
| Coaches | Charlie Conti |
| National Appearances | None |
| Program Status | Active |
| School Size | 1,200 |
| NAQT Page | link |
Kings Park High School is a public high school located in Kings Park, Long Island, New York. The current incarnation of the KPHS quizbowl team has existed since the 2007-2008 school year. It was coached by Rob Celeste until 2018 and is currently coached by Charlie Conti.
Kings Park hosted KPAQT from 2011 to 2018.
Success on The Challenge
Kings Park's team received most of its recognition through the trivia show The Challenge. In its first appearance on the 2007-8 season, the team managed to get to round 3, only to be stopped by perennial contender Sachem North, who went on to become Long Island champions.
In the 2008-9 season, Kings Park won the Suffolk County finals over Half Hollow Hills West by 15 points, only to lose to eventual Tri-State champion Great Neck South by about the same margin.
In the 2009-10 season, Kings Park again made it to the Suffolk finals, only to lose to Smithtown East by a small margin.
Kings Park was selected to compete on The Challenge for the 2011-12 season.
NAQT and other tournaments
Kings Park's attendance at tournaments has slowly increased since its founding. In its founding year the team attended Kellenberg's LIFT, and Half Hollow Hills West's annual tournament. Neither team was particularly competitive, but the B team did make the top 32 at Hills.
In 08-09 they did not make it to any pyramidal tournaments.
In 09-10 the team became more active in NAQT, attending LIFT, Hills, and CAT IV (Chatham), with the A team taking considerable runs in each. By the end of the year, the B team was looking strong as well, taking 11th place at Chatham.
In 10-11 is when the team really took off. Team captain Will Schneider became a driving force in team attendance and practice, himself scoring regularly over 70ppg. They took part in 5+ events, and Will put Kings Park on the map by representing the school as a staffer in the first annual National History Bowl.
After that, the team became far more active, peaking at at 7 tournaments in 2016-2017 and appearing in the playoffs of every one. Since then, the team has remained active.
Notable Players
Robert Pond, Class of 2010 - founder of the briefly-active Stony Brook quiz bowl team
Will Schneider, Class of 2011 - RPI player, national tournament moderator