Hastings High School
| Hastings | |
| |
|---|---|
| Location: Hastings-on-Hudson, NY | |
| Club Presidents | Chloe McCabe |
| Coaches | Michael Willson |
| National Appearances | most NAC nationals in the past several decades
2023 & 2024 HSNCT |
| Program Status | Active |
| School Size | 520 (2019-20) |
| NAQT Page | link |
Hastings High School is a public school located in Hastings-on-Hudson, a Westchester County suburb just north of New York City. The club has existed for several decades, mostly playing in the Questions Unlimited "Academic Challenge" leagues WACKO and MACC, but has increasingly been playing pyramidal formats over the past three years.
Valley Cup
On January 7th, 2023, the inaugural Valley Cup was hosted at Hastings High School in collaboration with the Long Island Quiz Bowl Alliance. It was both a part of the shift towards more NAQT participation for the team, as well as an attempt to garner interest in NAQT-style pyramidal questions in the Hudson Valley.
In 2024, Hastings hosted another Valley Cup in January,
2023 Nationals
Hastings sent one team to the 2023 HSNCT. They had a 6-4 record in prelims. In playoffs, they had a bye, and then won twice, for a final placement of tied for 33rd.
2024 Nationals
Hastings sent one team to the 2024 SSNCT, their first ever SSNCT, where they competed in the Traditional Public Schools Division. Hastings cleared the field, going undefeated and winning every game by a margin of 225 or more. They defeated West Point in the finals.
At the 2024 HSNCT, Hastings sent the same team, and finished tied for 21st after two upset losses to TJ B in the winners bracket followed by Santa Monica in the losers bracket.
They followed this early exit with a phenomenal run at the 2024 PACE NSC, where they had a perfect 5-0 record in playoffs, carrying over an OT win against Northeast rival Hunter. They ended 4-3 in the top superplayoff bracket after defeating strong teams St Mark's, and University Lab, and another Northeast rival Livingston. They lost to St Mark's in a tiebreaker for 3rd and finished 4th.
Leadership
The current president, Chloe McCabe, has been working to expand the club and continue to bring Hastings mainstream quiz bowl.
Notable president Benny Feldman (June 2022- June 2024) (also known as: His Excellency, President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin Dada, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Seas and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular) made steps in outreach, organization, and recruiting for the club. He lead the effort to bring Hastings Quiz Bowl into mainstream quiz bowl.
Former Leadership:
- ????-2018: Joel Gardener
- 2018-2019: Benjamin (Benji) Ratzkin
(coup)
- 2019-2021: Adam Oppenheimer & Atri Ray
- 2021-2022: Alexander (Sasha) Gordon & Charlie Linder
- 2022-2024: Benny Feldman & Owen Linder