Last weekend, Richmond Hill High School joined 319 of the top high school quiz bowl teams at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis for the 2024 High School National Championship Tournament to determine who was the best.

Quiz bowl is a competitive, academic, interscholastic activity for teams of four students. Quiz bowl teams use buzzers to answer questions about science, math, history, literature, mythology, geography, social science, current events, sports, and popular culture. The matches feature a blend of individual competition and team collaboration, since no individual player is likely to be an expert in all subject areas. Participation in quiz bowl both reinforces lessons from the classroom and encourages players to develop new intellectual interests.

The team was captained by Joanna Xiao, who was joined by Ella Blakeborough, Finn Hartley, and Finn McCutchen. The team was coached by Valeri Orloff.

Richmond Hill was one of 26 Georgia teams competing at the national championship.

Richmond Hill finished the preliminary rounds with a 3-7 record.

There were some tense moments.

Richmond Hill suffered a heartbreakingly narrow loss to Grissom from Huntsville, Alabama, 180-165 during round 10; suffered another narrow loss to James Clemens from Madison, Alabama, 155-135 during round 12; and defeated Myers Park from Charlotte, North Carolina by the narrow margin of 185-180 during round 19.

Richmond Hill’s shot at the playoffs ended when they lost to Archbishop Mitty B from San Jose, California in round 13.

The tournament champion was the A team from Barrington High School of Barrington, Illinois.

The 2024 High School National Championship Tournament’s field featured 320 teams from 38 states, the District of Columbia, and China.

ABOUT NAQT

National Academic Quiz Tournaments, founded in 1996, organizes the premier middle school, high school, and college quiz bowl championships in North America. In addition to its national championships, NAQT provides questions to invitational tournaments, league championships, and television shows throughout the year. NAQT operates out of the Twin Cities and Kansas City, but its members mentor coaches, host tournaments, volunteer their services, and share their expertise across the United States.