Ransom Everglades
| Ransom Everglades (FL) | |
| |
|---|---|
| Location: Coconut Grove, Miami, FL | |
| Coaches | Steve Frappier, Georgia Noble |
| State Championships | 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 NAQT |
| National Championships | N/A |
| Program Status | Unknown |
| School Size | Unknown |
| NAQT Page | link |
Ransom Everglades is an independent, co-educational day school serving grades six to twelve in Coconut Grove in Miami, Florida. It has fielded an active quizbowl team since at least 1998, competing in the inaugural PACE NSC, but has more recently come to prominence during the mid-to late 2000's as a perennial winner of NAQT Florida State Championships and as a high placer at the recent editions of the NAQT HSNCT and the PACE NSC. Because the Commissioner's Academic Challenge is for public school districts, Ransom Everglades does not attend.
Team History
Led by team coach Dr. James Monk, Ransom's teams from 1998-2004 built up their experience, membership, and prowess, culminating in a dominating win in the 2005 NAQT Florida State Championship. After losing key players Guy David and Jay Sridhar to graduation, Ransom rebounded with a third-place finish in the 2006 NAQT Florida State Championship led by freshman captain Jesse Weinberg and senior Dalton Swing, now the president of the Tufts University Quizbowl team. Slowly building up their membership, and bolstered by 2007 and 2008 NAQT State Championship wins, the Ransom A team, led by new coach Mr. Steve Frappier, the former sponsor of the WUSTL Quizbowl Team, again won the 2009 State Championship. The Ransom Everglades B Team, affectionately dubbed "The Real A-Team," overcame several very good Pensacola teams to eke out a third place finish, thus qualifying for the 2009 HSNCT as well. After losing cornerstones to the Ransom A team such as Jesse Weinberg and Matthew Hoffer-Hawlik to graduation, the Ransom Everglades A team would once again have to rebuild in 2010. Luckily the team rebounded, picking up their 7th state championship under senior captain Daniel Trauner, juniors Matthew Susskind and David Froomkin, and sophomore Cole Press. The team also qualified for the 2010 NSC, the first time a Ransom team qualified since 2004.
2013 marked a new era for Ransom Everglades. Under the magnificent leadership of Sebastian Lozano and Danny Lopez, the Ransom A team won every tournament in its region plus the State Championship. At HSNCT, they were able to make playoffs and tie for 50th.
State Championship Performance
Starting in 2003, Ransom Everglades has won the NAQT Florida State Championship six times. However, Ransom notably placed third in 2006 after losing key players Guy David and Jay Sridhar, a Bio/Chem editor of the 2007 ACF Fall tournament, to Princeton and the University of Miami, respectively. However, a young Ransom team led by then-sophomores Jesse Weinberg and Matthew Hoffer-Hawlik soon regained the title, besting other competitive teams such as Lincoln and Eastside for the 2007 NAQT Florida State Championship. The team has continued to repeat its success in the NAQT Florida State Championship up until 2013.
Nationals Performance
Ransom Everglades, though a participant in the inaugural 1998 NSC as well as in the 1999 NSC, did not make the playoff rounds in either of those years. After a five year absence from the PACE NSC, Ransom returned to the 2004 NSC with a vengeance, placing 5-2 in the preliminary rounds, although due to unknown reasons, was not able to compete in the playoffs. After another three year absence from national championships, Ransom's 2007 State Championship team managed to tie for 49th place at the 2007 HSNCT. Jesse Weinberg, the team's captain, placed 20th individually, and was a member of the Sophomore All-Star Team. In 2008, Ransom's team tied for 42nd at the 2008 HSNCT, building on the successes of 2007. Finally, in 2009, sporting a well-rounded team of seniors Jesse Weinberg, Matthew Hoffer-Hawlik, James Barrett-Morison, and sophomore Matthew Susskind, Ransom tied for 17th at the 2009 HSNCT after attaining an 8-2 record during the preliminary rounds. In addition, the Ransom B Team attained a 5-5 record, having qualified for the HSNCT by placing 3rd at the 2009 NAQT Florida State Championship. In 2013, Ransom A tied for 50th after going 6-4 during the preliminary rounds.
Alumni
- Guy David
- Jay Sridhar
- Jason Sterling
- Dalton Swing
- Jesse Weinberg
- Matthew Hoffer-Hawlik
- James Barrett-Morison
- Daniel Becker
- Priya Sridhar
- Peter Clement
- David Raskin
- Sungi Cho
- Rony Krell
- David Hoffman
- Charles Austin Johnson
- Daniel Trauner
- Julian Helguero-Kelly
- Zack Berman
- Matthew Susskind
- David Froomkin
- Cole Press
- Louis Segall
- Daniel Lopez
- Julia Geiger
- Michelle Black
- Yumi Suh
- Sebastian Lozano
- Faizan Kothari
- Alex Tafur