Omar Q Beckins Academic Challenge
The Omar Q Beckins Academic Challenge, with many variations on that name, was an annual spring tournament in Westchester County, NY. Like virtually every competition in Westchester prior to 2022, it always used Questions Unlimited as a supplier, and was usually hosted by White Plains High School since its inception in 1990. It served as a "pre-nationals" for National Academic Championship-bound teams.
Upon the retirement of White Plains coach Les Roby, the tournament was immediately discontinued, which was the beginning of Questions Unlimited's downfall in Westchester. Three years after the tournament's end, Questions Unlimited had disappeared from the county, and was entirely replaced by the LIQBA; a furious Les attempted to overturn this decision, but was ignored, and has had no involvement in Quizbowl since then.
Results
| Year | Winner | Second |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | White Plains | Monroe |
| 1992 | White Plains | Irvington |
| 1993 | Byram Hills | Horace Greeley |
| 1994 | White Plains | Horace Greeley |
| 1995 | White Plains | New Rochelle |
| 1996 | St. Joseph's | White Plains |
| 1997 | Waramug | Carmel (NY) |
| 1998 | Ridgewood | Somers |
| 1999 | Ridgewood | Horace Greeley |
| 2000 | White Plains | New Rochelle |
| 2002 | Kellenberg Memorial | Horace Greeley |
| 2003 | Horace Greeley | Kellenberg Memorial |
| 2004 | Hastings A | Hastings B |
| 2005 | Byram Hills | Horace Greeley |
| 2006 | Byram Hills | White Plains |
| 2007 | New Rochelle A | Horace Greeley A |
| 2008 | New Rochelle | Edgemont |
| 2009 | White Plains | Horace Greeley |
| 2010 | Byram Hills | Horace Greeley |
| 2011 | White Plains | Ardsley |
| 2012 | Ardsley | White Plains |
| 2013 | Irvington | White Plains |
| 2014 | Briarcliff | Horace Greeley |
| 2015 | ??? | ??? |
| 2016 | ??? | ??? |
| 2017 | Croton | ??? |
| 2018 | Croton | Greens Farms |
| 2019 | ??? | ??? |
| 2020 | Not Held |
Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame status was awarded to competitors who had been honored with all-tournament-team status multiple times in a row. Most members of the Hall of Fame were MVPs of at least one tournament and in at least one final four round.
| Name | School | Year Inducted or MVP years |
|---|---|---|
| Michael Collins | White Plains | MVP 1991 |
| Chris Brunelli | Walter Panas | MVP 1993 |
| Rory Gormley | Clarkstown North | MVP 1994 |
| Steve Lawrie | White Plains | MVP 1995,1996 |
| Andrew Toonkel | Horace Greeley | 1996 |
| Jeff Filipini | Carmel | MVP 1997 |
| Joe Alderman | Irvington | 1998 |
| Dave Madden | Ridgewood | MVP 1998 |
| Ben Aronin | White Plains | 2002 |
| Warren Tusk | Briarcliff | MVP 2001 |
| Nick Giglia | Kellenberg Memorial | MVP 2003 |
| Dan Wolkowitz | Hastings | MVP 2002 |
| Sara Sheer | Horace Greeley | 2004 |
| Nate Mattison | Byram Hills | MVP 2004,2005,2006 |
| Sam Casper | Hastings | 2006 |
| Soumya Sanyal | White Plains | 2006 |
| Rebecca Maxfield | New Rochelle | MVP 2008 |
| Jacob Paul | White Plains | 2009 |
| Jack Wooley | St. Joseph's | 2009 |
| Sam Caywood | Horace Greeley | 2010 |
| Paul Kim | Horace Greeley | 2010 |
| Adam Jaffe | White Plains | MVP 2011 |
| Ryan Rosenberg | Ardsley | MVP 2012 |
| Alec Vulfson | Irvington | MVP 2013 |
| Tong Li | Briarcliff | MVP 2014 |
| Jacob Brady | White Plains | MVP 2015, 2016 |
| James Brandfonbrener | Edgemont | MVP 2017 |
| Joel Gardner | Hastings | MVP 2018 |
| Jack Mahoney | Croton | 2018 |