Winston Churchill (MD)
| Winston Churchill High School | |
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|---|---|
| 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The club competed in three local tournaments, but failed to qualify for the HSNCT. At their first NSC, Winston Churchill placed 74th.
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. 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, sophomores Alvin Guo and Kevin Peng, the two players that would make up the core scoring in future years, both began actively playing. Alvin Guo had participated in a couple of tournaments the previous year, and Kevin Peng was a History Bowl convert. At a cross country practice, Kevin Peng also introduced quizbowl to junior Andy Yu, which piqued his interest and caused him to begin attending practice. However, Andy would not find time to attend a tournament until the 2022 NSC.
Winston Churchill would reach t-24th at the HSNCT, the first time they had survived more than one round, 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 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.
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. 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.
Winston Churchill's goal going into the 2024 HSNCT was to achieve its club's highest placement, meaning that they would have to survive at least five playoff rounds. The team went 6-1 on Saturday, losing only to Northmont. In the Sunday morning prelim matches, the team went 1-2. After a win against Poolesville and a crushing defeat against Buffalo Grove, the team survived two close games against Northmont and Centennial, both of which came down to the last tossup. Thanks to an upset, the team did not have to face the eventual 4th-place NSC team Hastings, and won against Santa Monica before a tremendous loss to Richard Montgomery. In the end, Winston Churchill placed t-8th, achieving its initial goal.
At the NSC, Winston Churchill's A team managed to go 5-0 in the prelims, a first for the club. However, because of a change in rebracketing protocol, the team ended up in a death bracket with Kinkaid, Richard Montgomery, and St. Mark's. After a somewhat close loss to St. Mark's and the second upset in two years against Kinkaid, the team's championship bracket hopes were crushed in another nationals loss to Richard Montgomery. Playing in the 9-16 bracket, the team won against Lambert and Innovation Academy, but lost their other matches in close games. In a 4-way tie for 12th place, the team won their first tiebreaker match against Hoover, but lost their second match to Innovation Academy to place 13th overall.
The 2024-2025 School Year was conducted under the leadership of President Ulden Gao. The 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
- Jawei 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
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