Culver

Culver Academies Eagles
Location: Culver, Indiana
Coaches	Lauren Coil-Sherck
State Championships	2005 NAQT 2009 NAQT 2009 NAC 2010 NAQT 2011 Rotary AAA 2012 Rotary AAA
National Appearances	2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
Program Status	active
School Size	Unknown
NAQT Page	link

The Culver Academies are a private boarding school in Northwest Indiana. Nicknamed the Eagles, the quizbowl team currently participates in the Tippecanoe Valley Conference. Founded by Phil Blessman in 2004, Culver has consistently been one of the three most active programs in the state, along with St. Joseph's and Harrison. Culver was the first team in Indiana high school quizbowl to consistently play on NAQT and similar questions rather than on the prevalent NAC format in Indiana.

History

The Culver Academies Quiz Bowl team was founded during the 2004-2005 school year by Mr. Blessman, in his first year at the Academies after moving from the Conserve School way up in the hinterlands of Wisconsin. The table he set up at the Activities Fair that Labor Day was not flashy - just a poster of Uncle Sam encouraging students to join quiz bowl. At the first practice nearly 20 players showed up - the most to ever attend a quiz bowl practice at the Academies. At this practice, two players distinguished themselves: Noah Weiss, a senior, and Lane Pratt, a junior. Also noted at the practice was the lightning-fast math skills of Bryce Durgin, who would become a force in Indiana quiz bowl by his senior year in all areas other than math. Thus, the Academies' team was born.

In 2009 Culver won the NAC State Championship, and in 2011 and 2012 the team won back-to-back Class AAA Rotary State Championships. Nationally, the teams best results have been at the 2009, 2010, and 2012 NAQT HSNCT, where Culver advanced to the second round of the playoffs. From 2009-2014, Lauren Coil-Sherck, aka "Culver Stats Lady" served as Phil Blessman's Assistant Coach, and she took over the Head Coach spot in 2014 when Blessman moved on to JFKS-Berlin.

Tournament Hosting

Since the founding of the team, Culver Academies has usually hosted a few NAQT tournaments each year, including a Midwestern Championship in early-mid May.

In 2008, Culver "hosted" a Goldfish Tournament on NAQT questions. Teams participate at their home schools, making note not only of the questions that are answered correctly, but at the point in the questions where the question is answered. Theoretically, the results will not only permit a ranking of participating teams, but will permit "head-to-head" comparisons of each team. While not the same as a true "head-to-head" match up, and limited to a single round, the tournament attracted several dozen teams.