Charles Hang

Xinyun "Charles" Hang
Noted subjects	History
Current college	Washington University in St. Louis (2009- ) St. Charles Community College (2010)
Past colleges	N/A
High school	Francis Howell Central High School (2005-09)
Stats	HDWhite • NAQT

Xinyun Hang (Charles Hang) is a player for Washington University in St. Louis and St. Charles Community College. He captained the 2009 Francis Howell Central Scholar Quiz Bowl team which tied for 27th at the 2009 NAQT HSNCT, where he was a tournament All-Star. He is also a writer for NAQT and HSAPQ and a member of the Missouri Quizbowl Alliance.

Playing History

Middle School

Charles was first introduced to Quiz Bowl in sixth grade by his SEGA gifted program teacher at Saeger Middle School, Mrs. Debbe Van Beers. Van Beers, the founder and former coach of the Francis Howell North High School Quiz Bowl team, encouraged all of her SEGA students to join the Quiz Team sponsored by her husband Mike. Charles was the unofficial top scorer of competition between Saeger, Bryan, and Hollenbeck Middle Schools.

High School

After graduating from Saeger Middle School, Charles began playing for the Francis Howell Central High School team coached by Kathryn Keierleber. Charles was a top scorer for the team and a captain during his junior and senior years, leading the team to a 27th place finish at the 2009 NAQT HSNCT.

2005-2006

Charles was one of five former SEGA students and Quiz Team members to join the Francis Howell Central Quiz Bowl team in Fall 2005. His first tournament was the 2005 Two Saints Conference, where he was Junior Varsity top scorer, leading the JV A team in scoring to a third place finish. Charles joined the Varsity team in the Spring of 2006, encountering good Quiz Bowl for the first time in late January at the WUHSAC VIII tournament. Unfortunately, he spent much of the tournament substituted out for seniors and failed to see the differences between the WUHSAC questions and those supplied by Bryce Avery for Two Saints.

After WUHSAC, Charles was a high scorer at the Washington and Warrenton tournaments, where Francis Howell Central took 3rd and 2nd, respectively. Charles was also a member of the 2006 Gateway Athletic Conference championship team, though he answered zero tossups in the final game against Fort Zumwalt West. [1] Unfortunately, Charles had to take the ACT on the day of the MSHSAA District competition and did not know to rejoin his team for the playoff rounds, causing the team to place second to Fort Zumwalt West on the last question. Nevertheless, the 2005-2006 season proved Charles a rising star in the world of Missouri Quiz Bowl, despite his ignorance of the fact.

Awards

• Top Scorer, 2005 Two Saints Conference Junior Varsity Division
• High Scorer, Warrenton Tournament
• High Scorer, Washington Tournament

2006-2007

Charles was a member of the Francis Howell Central Varsity A team in the 2006-2007 season and a high scorer at several tournaments despite spotty attendance. At his first tournament, the 2006 Two Saints Conference, he was second only to Teresa Kilmer of Fort Zumwalt West in scoring, though his team was defeated by Zumwalt West and placed in the tournament's second playoff bracket, which it won, placing 5th at the tournament. Charles was also the bracket top scorer.

Charles's Spring tournament attendance was spotty, and as a result the team failed to reach the playoffs at both WUHSAC IX and the Warrenton Tournament. Charles did attend the Washington Tournament, where he was the top scorer and Francis Howell Central took first. Charles was also a high scorer at the 2007 Gateway Athletic Conference and at MSHSAA Districts, with Francis Howell Central taking second at the former and tying for third at the latter. During these tournaments, Charles relied heavily on freshman George Yu, whose math skills complimented Charles's history knowledge. This tandem would be the key to the team's future victories.

Awards

• 2nd Place Scorer, 2006 Two Saints Conference Varsity Division [2]
• Top Scorer, 2007 Washington Tournament [3]
• High Scorer, 2007 Gateway Athletic Conference [4]
• High Scorer, 2007 MSHSAA District

Missouri Scholars Academy

Like many Missouri players such as Jason Mueller and Alex Dzurick, Charles's attendance at the Missouri Scholars Academy (MSA), a gifted camp for Missouri's top rising juniors, was important to his formation as a Quiz Bowl player. He was the top scorer in the MSA Inter-House Scholar Bowl tournament, leading his team to a second place victory. More importantly, he met many players from other teams at MSA including Julia Price and Kai He of Fort Zumwalt West and Mark Schneider of Kirksville, thus helping him begin to see the wider world of Quiz Bowl.

2007-2008

Charles was a Co-Captain of the Francis Howell Central Scholar Quiz Bowl team for the 2007-2008 season, leading it to several tournament victories. He began the season by soliciting the help of Jeremy Gibbs in obtaining previous Two Saints results to gauge his opposition. This began his acquaintance with Gibbs, who later introduced Charles to the Missouri Academic Competition Message Board. It is ironic that Gibbs set Charles on the path to understanding good Quiz Bowl by introducing him to the Board, given that Gibbs is Missouri's best known promoter of bad Quiz Bowl. Charles also helped double the team in size from roughly six to twelve members through recruiting.

As usual, Charles's first tournament of the season was the Two Saints Conference. There, he was the top scorer, leading the team in scoring to a first place finish on improved questions from 2007-2008 MSHSAA State provider Shawn Pickrell. The tournament was also Charles's first time captaining the team, which he led to victories over Fort Zumwalt West's Varsity B and D teams on the tournament's second day.

Charles continued his leadership efforts in the Spring Semester despite conflicts with Youth Orchestra rehearsals. He captained the team to a first place finish at the 2008 Warrenton Tournament and a fourth place finish at the 2008 Helias Tournament with the help of George Yu and his math skills. Notably, the team attended Helias after Charles convinced his coach of the need to attend more and varied tournaments. Unfortunately, because he could only attend two regular season tournaments that semester, Charles chose to miss WUHSAC, showing his continued ignorance of good Quiz Bowl. Similarly, Charles allowed his coach's lukewarm response to the idea prevent the team from attending the 2008 NAQT Missouri Qualifier after failing to understand the Qualifier's importance.

In post-season play, Charles led Francis Howell Central's team to the 2008 Gateway Athletic Conference championship. Unfortunately, he had to take the ACT on the day of MSHSAA Districts again, allowing Francis Howell Central's elimination during preliminaries by Kirksville and Fort Zumwalt West, the latter of which defeated Howell Central by only five points.

By season's end, Charles had resolved to focus the team on good tournaments and to make the team more representative of the school through recruiting. To demonstrate the team's skills, he arranged the first ever Francis Howell Central Faculty vs. Team match, which the team lost 220-270 because he and George were regularly substituted out. [5] In recognition of his efforts, Charles was recognized as a Co-Captain of the team for the season.

Awards

• Top Scorer, 2007 Two Saints Conference [6]
• Top Scorer, 2008 Warrenton Tournament [7]
• Top Scorer, 2008 Helias Tournament [8]

2008-2009

Charles was Varsity Captain of the 2009 Francis Howell Central Quiz Bowl team. He led the team to the most successful season in school history, including a tie for 27th at the 2009 NAQT HSNCT, where he was a tournament All-Star. These successes came from his work to impart an understanding of good Quiz Bowl to his team.

Charles's first tournament of the 2008-2009 season was the Truman State mirror of Zot Bowl, which he attended with his MSA friends. There, he was the top high schooler and third highest scorer overall, with 70 PPG. [9] At this time, Charles began participating on the HSQB forum and came into conflict with the wider community, especially Matt Weiner, after describing some of the criticism of MSHSAA there as excessive. [10] Despite this, under the influence of Charlie Dees, Charles began learning the canon and using pyramidal questions in practice. Finally, he helped bring the team to an all time high of 15 players through recruiting.

Unfortunately, Charles had to spend much of the 2008-2009 season playing MSHSAA state provider Questions Galore. In the fall, he was the 2009 Two Saints Conference top scorer, leading the FHC team to a second championship. Charles also convinced his coach to attend the team's first Fall invitational in many years, the Hancock Tournament in November, where he was the third highest scorer and led the team to a first place finish. [11] In early January, he helped the team take first at the DeSmet Invitational after arriving at the second half of the last preliminary game to help earn enough points to advance as a wild card. [12]

After DeSmet, Charles convinced the Francis Howell Central team to focus on good tournaments. The first of these was WUHSAC XI in late January. Charles was a tournament high scorer, placing second only to Siva Sundaram of Rockford Auburn, though the team suffered a disappointing quarterfinal loss to Parkway Central. [13][14]

Charles's next good Quiz Bowl tournament was the 2009 NAQT Missouri Qualifier, where he was "power champ, 10 champ, and neg champ," leading the team to a third place finish. [15][16] Two weeks later, he led the team to its first good Quiz Bowl championship, at the 2009 Missouri S&T Spring Tournament, after convincing Ms. Jessica Rowe to chaperone. Charles was again the top scorer. [17] Finally, around this time, Charles secured school funding for the to attend the 2009 NAQT HSNCT.

After such successes, Charles had to play bad Quiz Bowl again while leading the Francis Howell Central team to a first place finish in the 2009 Gateway Athletic Conference. [18] Unfortunately, though Charles was the top scorer at the team's MSHSAA District competition, the team lost the final to Zumwalt West after his correct response of "Mary I, Queen of Scots" for the "Catholic cousin of Queen Elizabeth I" was inappropriately rejected. [19] Charles found the questions and the nature of the defeat appalling. Finally, Charles became a member of the Missouri Quizbowl Alliance at this time and was recognized in the Missouri Academic Competition Message Board player ranking poll as the top Generalist and top male Quiz Bowl player in Missouri, as well as tying for top history and top literature player. [20] [21]

Charles ended his high school career by leading the 2009 Francis Howell Central team to a tie for 27th at the 2009 NAQT HSNCT. [22] He was the 23rd HSNCT All-Star, coming in 25th overall despite much negging. [23] His interest in military history can be heard in his excitement at hearing his favorite battle Friedland in a Napoleonic battles bonus during the team's round 14 game against Detroit Catholic Central. [24]

Awards

• Top High Schooler (3rd Overall), 2008 Zot Bowl Truman State Mirror [25]
• Top Scorer, 2008 Two Saints Conference [26]
• High Scorer (3rd), 2008 Hancock Tournament [27]
• High Scorer (2nd), 2009 WUHSAC XI [28]
• Top Scorer, 2009 NAQT Missouri Qualifier [29]
• Top Scorer, 2009 Missouri S&T Spring Tournament [30]
• Top Scorer, 2009 MSHSAA Class 4, District 7 Tournament [31]
• Top Generalist, Top Male Player in Missouri, tied for Top History & Literature Players in Missouri Missouri Academic Competition Message Board Player Ranking Poll [32]
• All Star (25th Overall, 23rd All-Star), 2009 NAQT HSNCT [33]

College

Charles is currently a member of the Academic Team at Washington University in St. Louis.

2009-2010

Washington University in St. Louis, Part One

Charles's first tournament of the 2009-2010 season was the mirror of Early Fall Tournament 4 held at Illinois on October 3rd, 2009. He captained Washington University's B team to a 4-8 finish, with the team coming in 16th overall of 24 teams, while he himself was 6th highest scorer with 64.58 PPG. [34] At the Missouri mirror of ACF Fall 2009 on the 31st of October, 2009, Charles led a WUSTL team of three freshmen to take 2nd place, winning the Division II and Undergraduate championships, while he was the tournament's top scorer. [35] [36] He followed up this accomplishment a week later on the 7th of November by leading the WUSTL house team to take first place at the fourteenth iteration of the Gateway Invitational Tournament, where he was the second highest scorer. [37][38]

St. Charles Community College

Having attended St. Charles Community College in his home town for several years and continuing to do so during his first year of college, Charles chose to found a Quiz Bowl team there in the 2009-2010 season in the hopes of creating a Missouri Community College circuit. Unfortunately, the team had only just come into existence by the time of the 2009 NAQT CCSCT, and thus Charles chose to play for St. Charles CC for CCSCT, joining two other players at the nearest sectional, located at Cloud County Community College in Kansas. Because of his prior Quiz Bowl experience, Charles played solo at the tournament, taking first by going 12-0.

Because Charles was a dual enrolled student also taking classes at WUSTL, this action proved highly controversial. A number of individuals including Charlie Rosenthal and Mike Cheyne found the action dubious, while Charlie Dees harshly criticized it. [39][40][41] Notably, WUSTL team adviser Sean Phillips described in great detail his resentment of various aspects of the situation, including Charles's failure to notify the WUSTL team of any other Quiz Bowl affiliations he might have or pursue, the way that WUAT funds used to send teams including Charles to tournaments would inadvertently improve Charles's chance to win the 2010 CCCT for St. Charles CC rather than the 2010 NAQT SCT and 2010 NAQT ICT for WUSTL, and Charles's plans to possibly play in Division II for WUSTL at the 2011 NAQT ICT. [42]

Interestingly, the only mostly ambivalent response to the action came from Chris Borglum, the coach of CCCT contender Valencia Community College and one of those who had the most to lose by the existence of another high level team at CCCT. Borglum found nothing wrong with Charles playing at the Community College level, though he did consider his dual affiliation unfortunate. [43] In his own defense Charles argued that the situation was no different than a high school student taking the majority of his/her credits on a college campus still playing at HSNCT or NSC.

In any case, the final conclusion of NAQT, in the person of Vice President for Communications Jeff Hoppes, was that Charles's actions were permitted under existing NAQT eligibility rules and that a player pursuing both four and two year degrees should have the opportunity to choose to play either CCSCT/CCCT or SCT/ICT. [44]

Awards

• High Scorer, Early Fall Tournament 4 at Illinois (6th Place Individually, Team 18th Place Overall) [45]
• Top Scorer, ACF Fall 2009 at Missouri (Team 2nd Place Overall) [46]
• High Scorer, GIT XIV at WUSTL (2nd Place Individually, Team 1st Place Overall) [47]

Question Writing

NAQT

Charles has been a writer for National Academic Quiz Tournaments, LLC since May of 2009.

HSAPQ

Charles has been a writer for High School Academic Pyramidal Questions since November of 2009.

Independent Writing

Charles independently writes questions for tournaments in Missouri and beyond. Along with Julia Price, he wrote the 2009 Missouri Scholars Academy Scholar Bowl Tournament playoff game questions, which were well received. [48] Charles also produced a pyramidal tournament for the fall Varsity tournament at Richland High School, which was also well received as an introduction to pyramidal questions in the MSHSAA format for Missouri teams. [49] In doing so, he had the help of Dan Donohue and a number of other players.

External References

• NAQT Results for Charles Hang
• "Charles Hang discussion" on the Quiz Bowl Resource Center Forums regarding his choice to play CCSCT