Avon High Defeats Vermilion on Scholastic Games Academic Quiz

The Scholastic Games radio quiz, featuring high school academic teams in Lorain County, continued its series of weekly programs on WEOL (AM 930) on Monday when the show’s defending champion, Avon High School, started a new year with a win, 460 to 60 over Vermilion High.

Avon was represented by Jacob Boesger, Connor Smith, and the returning team captain Alex Stamatis, whose efforts won him the program’s “Standout Scholar Award,” a $50 prize given to the student judged to have contributed the most to his or her team each week. He was a four-time winner of the honor last year in the team’s drive to the championship. Unfortunately overwhelmed, mainly in the final rounds, was a Vermilion team consisting of Sarah Webb, Hunter Cyran, and team captain Jenna Smith.

: The academic team from Avon High School, left to right, Jacob Boesger, Alex Stamatis, and Connor Smith.

: The academic team from Vermilion High School, is represented by, left to right, Sarah Webb, Jenna Smith, and Hunter Cyran.

Both teams did well but Avon started with a lead by acing the first round of questions and did nearly as well in the second, the often challenging Current Events round. When the buzzers came into use in the remaining rounds, Avon dominated the competition to an even greater degree leading to the team’s definitive victory.

Impressive as the win was on this fourth program of the season, there have already been two higher winning scores, 590 points scored last week by Olmsted Falls and 510 points by Avon Lake in the season opener. It should make for an interesting series of playoffs. In succeeding weeks, a total of fifteen of Lorain County’s public and private high schools will compete, leading up to the broadcast’s annual county championship.

The teams are guided by faculty advisors. Todd Sayers is the advisor for Avon and Vermilion, a school that has produced two championship-winning teams in past seasons, is advised by Rebecca Jessen and Jim Klein. Continuing a 27-year tradition, each participating school will receive a $1000 tuition credit to be given to a deserving student that will attend an area college or university. Additional credits are awarded to schools when they compete and win in playoffs. Contributing institutions include Lorain County Community, Baldwin Wallace University, Oberlin College, Ursuline College, Ashland University, Case Western Reserve, Heidelberg, John Carroll, Notre Dame College of Ohio, and Tiffin University. Many of these have participated in the program for a number of years.

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