Thomas Jefferson (VA)

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Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
Thomasjefferson.jpg
Location:
Alexandria, VA
Coaches John Laffey (Quizbowl) and Jay Wickliff (History Bowl)
State Championships 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 Scholastic Bowl; 2002, 2005, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 NAQT
National Championships 2003 HSNCT, 2004 HSNCT, 2005 HSNCT, 2008 HSNCT
2005 NSC, 2018 NSC, 2019 NSC
2018 NHBB Varsity
1994 PAC
National Appearances HSNCT: 2001-2019, 2021-2022
PACE NSC: 2002-2019, 2021-2022
NHBB: 2015-2018
TOC: 1996-2000
Program Status Active
School Size 1903
NAQT Page link

The Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, often known simply as Thomas Jefferson or TJ, is a school located in Alexandria, VA. It is a state chartered magnet school and is known for being highly selective. TJ has been a notable force in Virginia and national quizbowl since the early 1990s, especially in the period from 2003 to 2005.

Thomas Jefferson hosts at least one high school tournament each year, usually drawing all the elite teams in the DC region as well as teams from farther afield.

State championship performance

Since the Virginia High School League established its Scholastic Bowl championship in 1998, Thomas Jefferson has won the group AAA title eleven times (1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2012, and 2013) and finished second in the other five years. After the 2014 VHSL Realignment, Thomas Jefferson won the the 5A title in 2016 and 2017, coming in second in 2014 and 2015. After the 2018 VHSL Realignment, Thomas Jefferson won the Class 5 title in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021. After a realignment in 2021, Thomas Jefferson won the Class 6 title in 2022. Thomas Jefferson also won the title at the 2002, 2005, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 NAQT Virginia Championship. They finished second in 2001, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2015, 2016, and 2018.

B teams

Thomas Jefferson is notable for fielding strong B teams, including three B teams which finished second at NAQT states and a 2005 B team which finished in the top 10 at NAQT nationals and in the final four at PACE nationals (with TJ A winning both of those tournaments). In 2004, TJ B was ranked second after the preliminary rounds in both NAQT nationals and PACE nationals, but choked in the playoff rounds and finished fifth at PACE and outside the top ten at NAQT. In 2011, their B team placed T-8th at HSNCT and 16th at PACE nationals. In 2016 and 2018, TJ's B team came second at NAQT states after losing the first match of a disadvantaged final against their A team. At the 2017 POMMSS Mirror at Gar-Field, TJ's B team upset their A team in the preliminary rounds, but lost the final to them.

Nationals performance

Thomas Jefferson won the Panasonic national championship in 1994 and contributed several players to the Virginia all-star teams which won in 2003, 2004, and 2005.

Thomas Jefferson finished second at the PACE NSC in 2003 and 2004 and won the tournament in 2005. Besides those TJ teams, only State College at the 1998 to 2001 and 2010 to 2011 PACE NSCs, LASA at the 2013 and 2014 HSNCTs, and Hunter at the 2016 and 2017 HSNCTs have repeated as the champion of any major national championship tournament.

Thomas Jefferson won three straight NAQT national championships, from 2003 to 2005. This included a 40-game winning streak sandwiched between a round 10 prelim loss to Dunbar in 2003 and a round 3 loss to Charter B in 2006.

On May 25th, 2008, the Thomas Jefferson A team defeated Wilmington Charter A in the 2nd and deciding game of an advantaged final to claim their 4th NAQT National Championship.

Thomas Jefferson A placed second at the 2003 NSC, the 2004 NSC, the 2008 NSC, the 2016 National Junior Varsity History Bowl, the 2016 HSNCT, and the 2017 National Varsity History Bowl.

On April 29th, 2018, Thomas Jefferson's Varsity A team won a one-game final against Richard Montgomery to secure their first National History Bowl championship and on June 3rd, 2018, Thomas Jefferson's A team won the first game of an advantaged final against Dublin Scioto to end a ten-year drought of Quizbowl national titles.

TJ's 2019 season was equally as successful. TJ returned their top scorer Fred Zhang, who was now supported by the incredibly talented literature player James Kuang, excellent AFA player Kevin Wang, and hole-filler Benjamin Xu, creating an overall very well-rounded team. At HSNCT, TJ A went 9-1 in the prelims, only losing to Hunter. They streaked in the playoffs until they faced University Lab A were defeated by them. A protest from Stevenson A the next game resulted in TJ ending in 5th place. Their NSC performance, was better. The team was able to defeat almost every team, with a close shave against University Lab but ultimately defeating them until they lost to James E Taylor once, but beat them, resulting in a two-peat of Quizbowl national titles.

2005 team

Widely considered the greatest high school team of all time, the 2005 Thomas Jefferson A team had a regular lineup of Sam Lederer, Dan Wright, Will Sullivan, and Jacob Oppenheim. When playing in tossup/bonus formats with that full lineup, TJ A went undefeated for the entire year, believed to be the first team to do so while playing a significantly competitive schedule.

While six other teams have won both major national championships (NAQT HSNCT[1] and PACE NSC) in the same year, Thomas Jefferson's 2005 team remains the only one to go undefeated at both tournaments.

Current Roster

Notable alumni

Tournament Results

2015-2016 Academic Year

Date Tournament Question Set Team Record Rank Stats
10/3 Johns Hopkins Novice NAQT IS-149A A 6-3 3/19 [2]
B 5-4 7/19 [3]
C 2-7 12/19 [4]
D 7-2 5/19 [5]
10/31 Maryland Fall Maryland Fall 2015 A 8-2 2/21 [6]
B 7-3 7/21 [7]
C 5-5 11/21 [8]
10/31 Georgetown Invitational NAQT IS-148 A 9-3 2/14 [9]
B 8-3 3/14 [10]
C 7-3 7/14 [11]
11/7 ACF Fall ACF Fall 2015 A 11-2 1/8 [12]
B 3-10 7/8 [13]
11/8 Centennial Inviational (Varsity) NAQT IS-151A A 7-2 2/30 [14]
B 5-4 6/30 [15]
Centennial Inviational (Novice) C 8-1 2/36 [16]
D 3-5 12/36 [17]
E 5-4 32/36 [18]
11/14 Washington, DC History Bowl (Varsity) NHBB C-Set A 2-3 8/10 [19]
Washington, DC History Bowl (Junior Varsity) B 5-0 1/18
C 4-1 3/18
12/5 VCU Winter VIII NAQT IS-152 A 9-2 3/24 [20]
B 9-2 7/24 [21]
12/19 Richard Montgomery Fall Novice SCOP Novice 6 A 10-0 1/24 [22]
B 5-5 4/24 [23]
C 8-2 7/24 [24]
D 6-4 9/24 [25]
1/9 VHSL Capitol Conference 13 VHSL Conferences 2016 A 7-0 1/8
1/30 VHSL Regional 5A North VHSL Regionals 2016 A 4-0 1/8
2/20 Battle for Mid-Atlantic Dominance NAQT SCT-16DII A 12-3 1/12 [26]
B 2-12 12/12 [27]
2/27 VHSL 5A State VHSL States 2016 A 3-0 1/4 [28]
3/12 Virginia State History Bowl Championships (Varsity) NHBB A-Set A 4-1 2/8 [29]
Virginia State History Bowl Championships (Junior Varsity) B 6-0 1/4
3/19 NAQT Virginia State Championship NAQT IS-156 A 9-2 1/20 [30]
B 9-3 2/20 [31]
C 6-4 7/20 [32]
4/9 Northern Virginia History Bowl (Junior Varsity) NHBB B-Set A 3-1 2/6 [33]
STORM HFT X A 10-0 1/16 [34]
B 8-2 5/16 [35]
4/16 Johns Hopkins Invitational NAQT IS-154 A 10-2 2/24 [36]
B 6-5 5/24 [37]
4/23-4/24 National History Bowl (Varsity) NHBB Nationals 2016 A 6-4 38/160 [38]
National History Bowl (Junior Varsity) A 14-2 2/102 [39]
B 8-2 38/102 [40]
4/30 VCU Season Finale CALI A 7-3 3/21 [41]
5/28-5/29 2016 HSNCT HSNCT-16 A 15-5 2/272 [42]
B 8-5 34/272 [43]
C 6-5 77/272 [44]
6/4-6/5 2016 NSC 2016 PACE NSC A 15-4 3/96 [45]
B 9-9 20/96 [46]

2016-2017 Academic Year

Date Tournament Question Set Team Record Rank Stats
10/15 VCU Fall VIII NAQT IS-158 A 12-0 1/12 [47]
B 9-2 3/12 [48]
10/29 Johns Hopkins Novice NAQT IS-159A A 4-6 16/30 [49]
B 9-1 3/30 [50]
11/6 Centennial Inviational (Varsity) NAQT IS-161A A 11-0 1/24 [51]
B 7-4 4/24 [52]
Centennial Inviational (Junior Varsity) C 11-0 1/42 [53]
D 4-6 37/42 [54]
11/12 Cavalier Classic NAQT IS-160 A 11-0 1/36 [55]
B 9-2 3/36 [56]
C 7-4 5/36 [57]
12/3 Washington, DC History Bowl (Varsity) NHBB C-Set A 8-0 1/14 [58]
Washington, DC History Bowl (Junior Varsity) B 7-1 2/12
C 4-2 5/12
D 5-2 3/12
12/10 GSAC XXIV GSAC XXIV A 9-3 3/28 [59]
B 7-4 7/28 [60]
1/14 VHSL Capitol Conference 13 VHSL Conferences 2017 A 5-0 1/6
2/4 VHSL Regional 5A North VHSL Regionals 2017 A 4-0 1/8
Northern Virginia History Bowl (Varsity) NHBB B-Set A 6-1 3/10 [61]
B 3-3 5/10
Northern Virginia History Bowl (Junior Varsity) C 6-2 2/10
D 4-2 5/10
E 0-5 9/10
2/25 VHSL 5A State VHSL States 2017 A 3-0 1/4
3/4 Capital Region Championships History Bowl (Varsity) NHBB A-Set A 5-2 2/8 [62]
B 2-3 6/8
Capital Region Championships History Bowl (Junior Varsity) C 7-0 1/8
D 2-3 6/8
3/11 POMMSS POMMSS A 9-1 1/10 [63]
B 9-1 2/10 [64]
C 8-2 3/10 [65]
4/1 NAQT Virginia State Championship NAQT IS-166 A 11-0 1/34 [66]
B 8-1 3/34 [67]
C 5-4 7/34 [68]
D 4-6 21/34 [69]
E 5-6 32/34 [70]
F 3-8 33/34 [71]
4/22-4/23 National History Bowl (Varsity) NHBB Nationals 2017 A 15-2 2/144 [72]
B 8-2 50/144 [73]
National History Bowl (Junior Varsity) A 14-2 6/108 [74]
B 4-6 60/108 [75]
C 3-7 84/108 [76]
4/29 Georgetown Spring HFT XI A 11-1 1/10 [77]
B 8-3 3/10 [78]
C 6-5 5/10 [79]
D 2-10 9/10 [80]
5/27-5/28 2017 HSNCT HSNCT-17 A 13-5 4/304 [81]
B 8-3 25/304 [82]
C 6-5 65/304 [83]
6/10-6/11 2017 NSC 2017 PACE NSC A 15-4 4/96 [84]
B 10-5 29/36 [85]
C 9-6 74/96 [86]

2017-2018 Academic Year

Date Tournament Question Set Team Record Rank Stats
9/30 2017 Maryland Fall @ UMD 2017 Maryland Fall A 11-0 1/24 [87]
B 8-3 8/24 [88]
C 6-5 10/24 [89]
D 4-7 20/24 [90]
E 6-5 14/24 [91]
F 5-6 19/24 [92]
10/14 2017 EFT @ UVa 2017 EFT A 5-6 7/24 [93]
11/5 Centennial Inviational (Varsity) NAQT IS-171A A 5-5 11/30 [94]
B 6-4 14/30 [95]
C 8-2 7/30 [96]
D 7-3 8/30 [97]
E 7-3 8/30 [98]
F 5-5 4/30 [99]
Centennial Inviational (Novice) G 6-4 14/35 [100]
H 0-5 35/35 [101]
11/11 Cavalier Classic NAQT IS-170 A 13-0 1/38 [102]
B 11-1 2/38 [103]
C 8-4 5/38 [104]
D 8-3 9/38 [105]
12/2 Washington, DC History Bowl (Varsity) NHBB C-Set A 2-4 5/13 [106]
B 4-2 3/13
C 7-0 1/13
Washington, DC History Bowl (Junior Varsity) D 4-2 5/12
E 3-3 5/13
F 6-1 2/12
2/3 VHSL Regional 5C NAQT 17VHSL-R, 17VHSL-SR A 9-0 1/13 [107]
2/10 Northern Virginia History Bowl (Varsity) NHBB B-Set A 7-0 1/12 [108]
B 7-1 2/12
C 2-3 5/13
Northern Virginia History Bowl (Junior Varsity) D 6-1 3/14
E 1-4 11/14
F 2-3 10/14
G 1-4 12/14
2/17 JACK HFT XII A 11-0 1/11 [109]
B 7-3 3/11 [110]
C 5-5 5/11 [111]
D 3-7 9/11 [112]
E 0-10 11/11 [113]
2/24 VHSL Class 5 State NAQT 17VHSL-ST A 3-0 1/4 [114]
3/10 SMT @ JHU SMT A 10-2 2/16 [115]
3/11 Capital Region History Bowl Championships (Varsity) NHBB A-Set A 6-1 1/7 [116]
Capital Region History Bowl Championships (Junior Varsity) B 7-1 2/13
3/31 NAQT Virginia State Qualifier NAQT SCT-18 A 11-0 1/25 [117]
B 10-1 2/25 [118]
C 7-4 5/25 [119]
D 5-6 7/25 [120]
E 4-6 13/25 [121]
F 3-8 19/25 [122]
4/21 East Brunswick Pre-Nationals NAQT ICT-18 A 9-2 1/18 [123]
B 4-6 6/18 [124]
4/28-4/29 National History Bowl (Varsity) NHBB Nationals A 15-1 1/144 [125]
B 6-5 28/144
C 5-5 64/144 [126]
National History Bowl (Junior Varsity) A 11-4 6/108 [127]
B 6-4 32/108 [128]
C 5-5 51/108 [129]
5/26-5/27 2018 HSNCT NAQT HSNCT-18 A 13-5 4/352 [130]
B 9-5 20/352 [131]
C 9-5 32/352 [132]
D 5-5 146/352 [133]
6/2-6/3 2018 NSC 2018 PACE NSC A 17-2 1/96 [134]
B 12-7 13/96 [135]
C 7-8 55/96 [136]
D 5-10 69/96 [137]
E 8-7 77/96 [138]

Succession of titles

Succession of minor titles

Panasonic Academic Challenge Champion
Preceded by
Year
Succeeded by
Torrey Pines
1994
Florida All-Stars