Downingtown, PA - On March 18, the Chester County Academic Competition championship matches produced exciting and hard-fought action with Devon Preparatory School emerging as the 2009 varsity champion.
Devon Prep secured its first championship title with a score of 115 points, West Chester East High School placed a respectable second with 80 points and Unionville High School was not far behind with 75 points, placing third overall for the season from a field of 18 teams.
The junior varsity championship was won by Downingtown East High School with 70 points. Devon Prep placed second with 60 points and Unionville High School finished third with 50 points.
The Chester county Academic Competition now in its 25th year is sponsored by Franklin Mint Federal Credit Union and conducted by the Chester County Intermediate Unit.
In order to compete at the championship match, all three teams had to first outscore their peers from 15 other Chester County public, non-public, and charter high schools. The 2008-09 season began in October and after five months of competition and over 4000 questions, only one school, Devon Prep, would earn the right to represent Chester County at the Pennsylvania State Academic Competition on April 24.
In a match, three high school teams answer an array of questions from six subject areas including: mathematics, literature, history, science, potpourri and current events. The teams with the top nine highest cumulative scores from the regular season advanced to the semifinals held in February. At the semifinals, teams competed in three matches with the winner of each match advancing to the championship game that led to the showdown between Devon Prep, West Chester East and Unionville on March 18.
The intensity of the competition can be gauged by the teams’ preparation for the matches.
“During the pre-season, we practice once or twice a week,” said Devon Prep co-captain Mark Rafferty. “Then in the regular season, we practice five times a week. For the championship match, we considered adding a Saturday practice, but decided to use that as individual prep time instead.”
According to Devon Prep Coach Paul Sanborn, the team has even purchased a buzzer system similar to the one used in competition so that students become accustomed to “buzzing” in.
West Chester East follows an equally impressive practice schedule.
“We practice three times a week,” said Coach Tracy Heim. “Then on Thursdays, we compete in an online academic competition. In addition, we travel to every tournament we possibly can.”
West Chester East’s hard work has paid off. While they are not advancing to the Pennsylvania Academic Competition, thanks to two tournament wins in Lancaster, the team will compete at the 2009 National High School Academic Competition in New Orleans in May over Memorial Day weekend.
“I am really proud of my team,” said West Chester East captain Yu Wang. “We were the underdogs coming in. We knew we had to work very hard to bring up our speed and our knowledge base and we did. Every one worked very hard and I am very proud of our performance.”
The Chester County Academic competition is coordinated by the Chester County Intermediate Unit and sponsored by Franklin Mint Credit Union. In addition, Franklin Mint will present $3500 in scholarships to the three top teams and host an awards luncheon for all the teams on April 21, during which the All-Chesco Team, the All-Star Team, the Coach of the Year, and the Competitor of the Year awards will be announced.
# # # #
