Difference between revisions of "University of Illinois Lab"

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{{Highschoolteam|Name = University of Illinois Laboratory High School
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{{Highschoolteam|Name = University Laboratory High School
 
|image = Uniwebmask.png
 
|image = Uniwebmask.png
 
|citystate = Urbana, IL
 
|citystate = Urbana, IL
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|currentcoach = Chris Butler, Brad McLain, UIUC ABT
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|currentcoach = Kaila Simpson
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|currentpres = Tim Cho
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|state = [[IHSA]]: 2015 (A), 2019 (AA), 2022 (A), 2023 (A) <br> [[NAQT Illinois State Championship|NAQT]]: 2018, 2020 <br> [[Masonic tournament|Masonic]]: 2018 (2A), 2019 (2A), 2020 (2A), 2022 (3A)  
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|state = 2015 [[IHSA]] (A) <br> 2018 [[NAQT Illinois State Championship|NAQT]](Small School and Overall)<br> 2018 [[Masonic tournament|Masonic]] (AA)
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|nats appearances = MSNCT: [[2018 MSNCT|2018]] <br> HSNCT: 2014-2015, 2018-2019, 2021-2024 <br> SSNCT: 2018 <br>NSC: 2016-2017, 2019, 2021-2024
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|nats appearances = MSNCT: [[2018]] <br>HSNCT: [[2014 HSNCT|2014]], [[2015 HSNCT|2015]], [[2018 HSNCT|2018]] <br>SSNCT: [[2018 SSNCT|2018]] <br>NSC: [[2016 NSC|2016]], [[2017 NSC|2017]]
 
 
|status = Active
 
|status = Active
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|size = 325 students, 20-25 on A, B, and C Teams
+
|size = 320 students
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| }}
+
}}
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''Not to be confused with [[University (Normal)|Normal University High School]] or [[University of Chicago Lab|University of Chicago Laboratory School]]'' <br><br>
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{{confuse|[[University (Normal)|Normal University High School]] or [[University of Chicago Lab|University of Chicago Laboratory School]]}}
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'''University of Illinois Laboratory High School''', or "Uni", is a university-funded lab school on the [[University of Illinois]] campus in Urbana. It includes a composite year for 7th and 8th grades alongside the standard four years of high school. As a result, Uni's quiz bowl program includes both a middle school team and a high school team. Uni's quiz bowl teams are directly affiliated with the University of Illinois Academic Buzzer Team, with the latter often providing staff for high school tournaments that Uni attends or hosts.
+
'''University of Illinois Laboratory High School''', commonly known as '''"Uni"''' or '''"Uni Lab"''', is a public, selective-admissions high school on the [[University of Illinois]] campus in Urbana. Uni was the runner up at both the 2019 and 2021 [[HSNCT]]s and placed third at the 2019 [[PACE NSC]]. The team was coached by Chris Butler from 2012 to his retirement in 2021 and is now coached by Kaila Simpson. Since 2017, Uni has been one of the strongest teams in Illinois and possibly the strongest team south of the Chicago metro area.  
 +
==2012–2017==
 +
The Uni High Scholastic Bowl team was founded in 2012 as the school trivia club and initially did not compete in tournaments. The team made its official quizbowl debut the following year, where they scored -5 points against IMSA in their very first game. Despite placing 30th out of 40 teams at the 2013 [[NAQT Illinois State Championship|NAQT State Championship]], they qualified for the 2014 and 2015 HSNCTs via other means and placed 201st and 145th respectively. In 2015, Uni won the Class A [[IHSA State Championship]] after a narrow victory against Peoria Christian. The following season, the IHSA moved Uni to the large school division for scholastic bowl (Class AA) despite Uni having only 250 students in its high school enrollment, due to [[IHSA]]'s "success factor" policies for selective-admissions schools without set attendance zones. Under captain Andrew Stelzer, they placed second at the 2017 class AA IHSA tournament after defeating Rockford Auburn and Oak Park-River Forest in the preliminaries, then losing to [[IMSA]] in the final. At the NAQT State Championships, Uni placed 11th in 2016 and 9th in 2017.
  
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=The Early Years (2012-2015)=
+
==2017-2020==
  
−
The Uni High Scholastic Bowl team first entered the local quiz bowl circuit in 2012 and has since expanded to include a B team and a C team, with about 20 active members on all teams. The team is coached by history teacher John Butler and Brad McLain of the University of Illinois. Although the school is known "Uni High" throughout the Champaign-Urbana area, teams from other parts of the state tend to refer to it as "Uni Lab", "Urbana U-High", or "University Lab School". People from other parts of the country often confuse it for the University of Chicago Lab School at national championships.  
+
Uni largely went unnoticed until the team's strength began to grow in 2018, when they became recognized as a state title contender in Illinois and a top-50 team nationwide. While defending champion, [[Stevenson]], was absent due to bad weather, the A team comprised of [[Tim Cho]], [[Ethan Ashbrook]], [[Dylan Bowman]], and [[Jonathan Lau]] won the 2018 [[NAQT Illinois State Championship]] by narrowly defeating [[Rockford Auburn]], becoming the first school from Downstate Illinois to win the event and the smallest ever school to win a large school or open division tournament in Illinois. Uni also became the first team to win the championship with all four starters posting over 20 PP20TUH. The following month, Uni clinched a first-place win over Latin in the Class AA Masonic tournament after losing to them in the finals of the previous two Class AA Masonic championships. Uni placed 5th at the 2018 [[SSNCT]] and 51st at the [[2018 HSNCT]]. That same year, their middle school team also placed T31st at the 2018 MSNCT.
  
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Uni A made its debut at an unspecified tournament, where they only scored -5 points against IMSA (which scored over 500) in round 1. At the 2013 NAQT State Championship, they placed 30th, but qualified for the 2014 and 2015 HSNCTs due to other victories, failing to make playoffs both times. In 2015, Uni won the Class A IHSA State Championship after a narrow victory against Peoria Christian. To this day, the quiz bowl team is the only IHSA activity in Uni ever to take the first-place trophy, besides girls cross country. However, Uni was not a top team at the state level overall among schools of all sizes, performing poorly at many tournaments with Chicago-area teams in its first three years of existence as a club.  
+
In 2018, Uni decided to attend tournaments in the Chicago Metro Area to play against tougher competition, winning the 2018 [[New Trier Varsity]] Tournament where they defeated [[Detroit Catholic Central]] for the first time. At the 2019 NAQT Illinois State Championship, Uni placed third after losses to Auburn and Stevenson, then won the 2019 Masonic tournament for the second time. At the 2019 IHSA State Championship, Uni won their first ever Class AA title after winning the championship match on a tiebreaker question against Rockford Auburn. Later, at the [[2019 HSNCT]], Uni went 8–2 in the preliminary rounds, then went on an undefeated streak in the playoffs before falling to Beavercreek in both the winners bracket final and the championship match. At the [[2019 NSC]], the team placed third overall after losing to eventual champion [[TJHSST|Thomas Jefferson]] and runner-up [[Katy Taylor]], then defeating [[Montgomery Blair]] in the third-place game.
  
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=Into the Big Leagues (2016-2017) =
+
Despite the loss of top history player Tim Cho to graduation, many people in the quizbowl community named Uni as the favorites to win the 2020 national season due to the impressive depth and [[generalism]] of Ethan Ashbrook and Dylan Bowman. During the 2019-20 season, Uni played without a full team at most tournaments, but still managed to secure several victories against top teams at tournaments such as Earlybird and [[WUFAT]]. At the 2019 [[New Trier Varsity|Reinstein Varsity]], Uni placed fourth after losses to [[Chattahoochee]], [[Miami Valley]], and Stevenson. In the 2020 NAQT Illinois State Championship, Uni won a second title after defeating Stevenson twice in a disadvantaged final. In March, Uni placed first at the Masonic State Championship for the third consecutive time, then won their 5th consecutive IHSA regional title. With the cancellation of the remainder of the IHSA State Series, HSNCT and PACE shortly afterward due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the team's 2020 season came to an abrupt end.
  
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Because of the IHSA's controversial success factor policies, Uni was moved up to class AA because it is a selective-admissions and non-bounded school, despite having only 320 students. However, the influx of strong players such as Tim Cho, Ethan Ashbrook, and Dylan Bowman laid the foundations for a bright future. In its first appearance in the IHSA State AA Finals in 2016, Uni went 1-2 and thus did not qualify for playoffs. The team placed second at the 2017 class AA IHSA tournament, losing to [[IMSA]] 500-320 in the championship round after beating [[Carbondale]], [[Auburn (Rockford, IL)|Auburn]], and [[Oak Park-River Forest|OPRF]]. At the NAQT State Championships, Uni placed 11th in 2016 and 9th in 2017. Despite this, Uni managed to become the runner-up at Masonic for both years, primarily because all the better teams were placed in Class AAA and Uni was placed in class AA. Even though Uni's performance started to improve, top teams in Illinois still saw them as a regional power rather than a state contender, and the team almost never showed up on national polls and rankings.
+
==2020-2024==
  
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=Breakthrough Year (2018)=
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In the 2020-21 preseason poll, Uni was ranked 26th overall, but omitted from many ballots. However, the A team ranked in the top 10-20 teams nationwide throughout the 2020-21 season due to significant improvement by Lawrence Zhao, Arjun Kala, and Janaki Kapadia who had moved up from the previous year's B team. At the [[2021 HSNCT]], the team went undefeated in playoffs before falling to [[Barrington]] in two games of an advantaged final. At the 2021 PACE NSC, the team placed 16th after taking losses to [[Greenhill]], Hunter, and [[Belmont]].  
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==Beginnings==
 
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Fall of 2017 saw the influx of over ten freshman, several of which played quizbowl at their middle schools. The addition of freshman Jonathan Lau to the A Team resulted in a near-complete coverage of the entire canon, as he filled in many of Tim and Dylan's holes in history and science, respectively. As Uni A began a long string of first-place wins with the IHSSBCA Kickoff at Mattoon, the team gradually began to make a breakthrough onto the national scene. Before long, Uni was universally recognized as a state contender by most top quiz bowl players and teams in Illinois. However, its geographic isolation from the other top teams and lack of administrative funding and support meant that Uni A rarely had the opportunity to play teams better than them.
 
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==Success at NAQT State==
 
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In 2018, a team comprised of Tim Cho, Ethan Ashbrook, Dylan Bowman, and Jonathan Lau won the [[NAQT Illinois State Championship]] by narrowly defeating Auburn in an advantaged final 350-320, finishing out the tournament with a 12-1 record. Uni became the very first school from Downstate Illinois to win the event. With only about 320 students, it also became the smallest ever school to win a large school or open division tournament in Illinois.  While defending champion, [[Stevenson]], was not present because of poor weather and icy conditions, Uni also became the first team to win the championship with all four starters posting over 20 PP20TUH for the tournament.
 
−
==Masonic Victory and IHSA misfortune==
 
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The following month, Uni clinched a first-place win over Latin in the Masonic tournament, which was its very first Masonic Win. Uni then entered the IHSA State Series the next week. Because of gerrymandering to separate the top four seeds, Uni A was forced to travel roughly 100 miles north to Streator, where they breezed through the regional. At sectionals, which was just 20 minutes away, Uni cleared the field after a close shave with regional powerhouse Mahomet-Seymour.  
 
  
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At the IHSA State AA Championship, Uni was placed in the same pool as Stevenson and IMSA due to unfortunate luck with seeding. Uni fought hard against IMSA, evening out the score with just five questions to go. However, their hopes were crushed by IMSA sweeping the last five tossups. After beating Macomb, Uni faced off against Stevenson, and was soundly defeated 570-270. As a result, they did even qualify for the fourth-place game, ending the team's hope of claiming the triple crown of Illinois state championships.
+
Following the departure of senior Jonathan Lau and longtime coach Chris Butler, the team continued to be one of the strongest in the state. At the 2022 NAQT Illinois State Championship, the A team tied for 5th place, and won both the IHSA Class A and Masonic Class 3A state championships. The team went on to place T39th at the 2022 HSNCT and 20th at the 2022 PACE NSC. In the 2023 season, the team continued to perform at a high level despite the loss of science specialist Lawrence Zhao to graduation, winning their fourth IHSA State title in eight years. The team later placed 21st at HSNCT and 11th at PACE. The loss of top scorer Arjun Kala in the following 2024 season was quickly made up for by continued improvement from seniors Shreyas Singh and Shawn Syed. At the 2024 PACE NSC, the team would place 8th despite the absence of Shreyas, making the top bracket for the first time since the historic 2019 season.  
−
==National Failures==
 
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At SSNCT, Uni placed 5th in the open division after a lackluster performance and low power counts against Friends Select A and Latin A. 2018 also marked Uni's very first appearance in the HSNCT Playoffs. Due to a seeding mishap, they were forced to play against Lexington in the very first round. Although Jonathan Lau powered the first tossup, that proved to be Uni's only power of the entire game, as the much stronger Lexington team easily defeated Uni 400-240. In the losers' bracket, Uni faced off against Carnegie Vanguard, which coincidentally was also a stronger team. Negging and lost buzzer races by Uni A eventually brough Uni's HSNCT playoff run to an end, resulting in an unfortunate 51st place finish. Due to financial constraints and a lack of support from administration, Uni was unable to attend PACE NSC or NHBB Nationals.
 
−
==Individual Recognition==
 
−
However, despite all the misfortune, 2018 marked the first appearance on the class AA All-State First Team (Tim Cho), as well as the first appearance on a NASAT team (Ethan Ashbrook on Illinois B). Tim Cho, Ethan Ashbrook, and Jonathan Lau were also selected for the local All-Sectional, again asserting Uni's position as the dominant Illinois team south of Chicago.  
 
  
−
=Current Status=
+
==National Results==
−
==A Rough Start==
+
*2014 HSNCT: 211th/272
−
A player poll conducted by Hanson Hao and Arjun Nageswaran during June of 2018 placed Uni Lab fourth in the state. However, the low number of votes (only eight) prevented a more accurate ranking. Later, coaches and players from all over the United States voted for the top 25 teams in the country. Uni Lab came in 23rd, somewhat lower than many people expected.
+
*2015 HSNCT: 145th/272
 +
*2016 NSC: 62nd/96
 +
*2017 NSC: 51st/96
 +
*2018 SSNCT 5th/64 (Open Division)
 +
*2018 HSNCT: 51st/352
 +
*2019 HSNCT: 2nd/336
 +
*2019 NSC: 3rd/96
 +
*2021 HSNCT: 2nd/224
 +
*2021 NSC: 16th/80
 +
*2022 HSNCT: 39th/272
 +
*2022 NSC: 20th/72
 +
*2023 HSNCT: 21st/304
 +
*2023 NSC: 11th/72
 +
*2024 HSNCT: 49th/320
 +
*2024 NSC: 8th/72
  
−
On September 29th, 2018, Uni placed second at the Illinois Earlybird. Junior Ethan Ashbrook impressed with his stunning performance and high power count due to the distribution of literature questions. Dylan Bowman also performed well with the Fine Arts and Science questions. However, Jonathan Lau performed very poorly compared to the previous year, putting up low power counts and PPG, because of the low geography distribution and the lack of a specialist ability other than in geography. Tim Cho also had a less outstanding performance than usual, despite a high power count on history and less competition from Jonathan for history buzzes. Back-to-back losses against IMSA resulted in a runner-up finish, although Uni A did manage to beat Stevenson A for the very first time.
+
==All-State Honorees==
 +
*2017 Class A Second Team: Andrew Stelzer
 +
*2018 Class AA First Team: Tim Cho
 +
*2019 Class AA First Team: Ethan Ashbrook, Dylan Bowman, Tim Cho
 +
*2020 Class AA First Team: Ethan Ashbrook, Dylan Bowman, Jonathan Lau
 +
*2022 Class A First Team: Arjun Kala, Lawrence Zhao
 +
*2022 Class A Second Team: Janaki Kapadia
 +
*2023 Class A First Team: Arjun Kala, Shreyas Singh
  
−
Earlybird was also a bad day for Uni B and C. Due to a variety of reasons and a heavy homework load, most of the C and D Teams did not show up, resulting in Uni having to move players up from lower teams. For the entire C Team with the exception of Arav Jagroop, Earlybird was their first-ever tournament. Uni C ended up going 1-9, pulling off one win against Monticello A. Uni B also experienced a good deal of misfortune. Because of losses to Glenbard North A (due to Uni B's history player being absent) and a loss to Latin B, Uni B finished out the day by clearing the field in Consolation II.
+
==Players for Team Illinois==
−
==Success at Solo==
+
*2018 Illinois B (T-13): Ethan Ashbrook
−
In October, Arjun Nageswaran, [[William Groger]], and [[John John Groger]] launched a new system of ranking teams, designed to be a relative ranking rather than an absolute one (such as [[Fred Morlan]]'s HSQBrank. The first ranking placed Uni Lab in the #2 spot, mainly because several strong teams had not played a tournament yet. The next set of rankings placed Uni in the #6 spot, solidifying Uni's presence on the national playing field. However, the school's administration, despite their pride in the quiz bowl team, refused to support the team in any way due to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_Laboratory_High_School_(Urbana,_Illinois)#$1_Million-plus_Deficit|significant financial hurdles].
+
*2019 Illinois A (1st): Ethan Ashbrook
 +
*2019 Illinois B (5th): Dylan Bowman, Tim Cho, Jonathan Lau
 +
*2020 Illinois A (cancelled): Ethan Ashbrook, Dylan Bowman, Jonathan Lau
 +
*2021 Illinois B (11th): Lawrence Zhao
 +
*2023 Illinois B (T-3): Shreyas Singh
  
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Despite these difficulties, the members of the Uni A team unanimously decided to attend tournaments in the Chicago Metro Area in the 2018-2019 season, to play against better teams and also to avoid trashing downstate tournaments with their nationally-ranked team. The first of these tournaments was the 2018 [[Scobol Solo]], held at [[New Trier]] High School in Winnetka. Unfortunately, top mACF scorer Ethan Ashbrook could not attend because of IHSA Cross Country Sectionals.
+
==External Links==
 +
*[http://www.naqt.com/stats/school-results.jsp?org_id=66172 NAQT Results]  
 +
*[http://www.uni.illinois.edu School website]
  
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Dylan Bowman started out the day 4-0 before lunchtime, facing no significant opposition except from Barrington's Michelle Yang. He finished off the morning with the #1 Card. However, Jonathan Lau was soundly defeated by eventual champion [[Kevin Kodama]] 13-6 after a close shave with IMSA's Matthew Lee. Tim Cho unfortunately faced [[Ethan Strombeck]] in round 4, where Ethan defeated him 16-3. At lunchtime, Jonathan and Tim both had 3-1 records. Jonathan and Tim finished with the 14 and 10 cards, respectively.
+
{{Succession_box|Tournament = NAQT Illinois State
 +
|year = 2020
 +
|previous = [[Rockford Auburn]]
 +
|next = Cancelled due to COVID-19
 +
| }}
  
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In their fifth game, Tim Cho and Jonathan Lau defeated Isaiah Zillman and Abigail Bergan, respectively. However, #1 Dylan was defeated by #8 John Paul Taylor in a close game. Because Dylan now possessed the #8 card, it meant he unfortunately had to play #10 Tim Cho in round 13. Dylan ended up beating Tim 9-8, with the final tossup going dead. Jonathan, on the other hand, endured another close shave with Barrington's Abraham Holtermann, then avenged Dylan's loss to John Paul Taylor by beating him 12-6. Jonathan and Dylan's 6-1 records meant that they would both be in the finals, the very first players from Uni Lab to do so.
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{{Succession_box|Tournament = IHSA Class 1A State
 +
|year = 2022, 23
 +
|previous = [[Chicago Christian]]
 +
|next = [[Metro-East Lutheran]]
 +
| }}
  
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In the final game, Dylan was eliminated after 40 questions, finishing 6th. However, he managed to win four categories simultaneously due to his strong knowledge of Fine Arts, Chemistry, and Physics. Jonathan Lau narrowly escaped elimination by defeating Aristotle Vainikos in a sudden-death tiebreaker. However, he stood no chance against strong players such as Kevin Kodama, Hanson Hao, and Ethan Strombeck. Due to his lack of dominance in one single subject and frequent hot and cold streaks, he scored zero points in the third phase of the finals and was eliminated along with Ethan. Jonathan Lau's fourth-place finish came as a surprise to many, because he was only a sophomore. He also boasted the second-highest conversion depth for a single category in the tournament (25.3%, Biology), narrowly edged out by Kevin Kodama's 25.0% Conversion Depth in World History. Even though Tim Cho could not make it to the finals at his first and last Scobol Solo, the whole team agreed that it was a fairly successful day.
+
{{Succession_box|Tournament = IHSA Class 2A State
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==November and December==
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|year = 2019
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On November 3rd, University Lab sent one team to the UIUC ACF Fall HS Mirror. Although they lost to Fremd in the prelims, they managed to keep their hope alive by decisively defeating IMSA, Auburn, and St. Joseph. A difficult loss against DCC resulted in another game with Auburn, which they won despite Ethan Ashbrook's absence.
+
|previous = [[Stevenson]]
 +
|next = Cancelled due to COVID-19
 +
| }}
  
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At the IHSSBCA Kickoff at Stevenson, University Lab A and B competed in the Über-Competetive division. Despite the absence of Ethan, they managed to beat IMSA for the second time in a row, and avenged their loss to Fremd by defeating them in the first round. Uni A finished 2nd after two losses to Stevenson, and Uni B finished 7th after two close shaves against Stevenson B and Hinsdale Central A.
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{{Succession_box|Tournament = Illinois Masonic State Tournament Class 2A
 +
|year = 2018, 2019, 2020
 +
|previous = [[Latin School]]
 +
|next = [[Herscher]]
 +
| }}
  
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{{Current Roster 
+
{{Succession_box|Tournament = Illinois Masonic State Tournament Class 3A
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|TeamName= University Lab
+
|year = 2022
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|BC1= White
+
|previous = Cancelled due to COVID-19
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|FC1= Blue
+
|next = [[Barrington]]
−
|BDC1= Orange
+
| }}
−
|Seniors= (Class of 2019)
 
−
* Tim Cho (C) (History and RMP Specialist)
 
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* Robert Nagel
 
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* Lia Dankowicz
 
−
 
 
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|Juniors= (Class of 2020)
 
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* Dylan Bowman (FA and Science-based generalist)
 
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* Ethan Ashbrook (Literature and Philosophy Specialist)
 
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* Matthew Tang
 
−
* Sasha Rushing
 
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* Henry Kraatz
 
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* Zona Hrnjak
 
−
 
 
−
|Sophomores= (Class of 2021)
 
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* Jonathan Lau (Miscellaneous specialties)
 
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* Daniel Cho
 
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* Aryan Lalwani
 
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* Srijan Shukla
 
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* Nicholas Phillips
 
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* Zachary Donnini
 
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* Caitlin Mamaril
 
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* Maher Adoni
 
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* Lucas Wood
 
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* Prithika Ravi
 
−
* Joanna Yoo
 
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* Romaisa Aamer
 
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* Arav Jagroop
 
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* Katelyn Barbour
 
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* Joel Armas
 
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* Daniel Matatov
 
−
 
 
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|Freshmen= (Class of 2022)
 
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* Lawrence Zhao
 
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* Andy Tang
 
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* Elijah Song
 
−
* Zhaohan Sun
 
−
* Jake Regenwetter
 
−
* Akhil Vytla
 
−
* Ryland Graham
 
−
 
 
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|Other Players= (Class of 2023)
 
−
* Emma Donnini
 
−
* Jeana To
 
−
* Elan Pan
 
−
* Gus Miller
 
−
|Coach/President= *Chris Butler (the club is entirely student-run but clubs at Uni require a faculty supervisor)
 
−
|Assistants=
 
−
*Brad McLain
 
−
*Iain Carpenter
 
−
*Mitch McCullar
 
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|Other Notable People= *UIUC ABT
 
−
 
 
−
}}
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
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=Notable Tournament Performances=
 
−
 
 
−
2015 IHSA State Champions, Class A <br>
 
−
2017 IHSA State Runner-Up, Class AA (moved from Class A in 2016) <br>
 
−
2017 Barron Robinson Memorial Champions
 
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2017 [[Masonic tournament|Masonic]] State Runner-Up, Class AA <br>
 
−
2017 Inaugural [[Scobol Solo#South Central Solo|South Central Solo]]: 2nd place, 3rd place, 5th place <br>
 
−
2018 IHSSBCA Kickoff at Mattoon Champions<br>
 
−
2018 Piasa Bird Invitational Champions<br>
 
−
2018 Barron Robinson Memorial Champions<br>
 
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2018 NAQT Illinois State Champions <br>
 
−
2018  [[Masonic tournament|Masonic]] State Champions, Class AA <br>
 
−
2018 Scobol Solo, 2 Finalists (Fourth Place and Sixth Place)<br>
 
−
2018 UIUC Earlybird Runner-Up<br>
 
−
2018 ACF Fall UIUC HS Mirror Runner-Up<br>
 
−
2018 IHSSBCA Kickoff at Stevenson Runner-Up<br>
 
−
 
 
−
==National Performances==
 
−
2014 HSNCT: 211th/272 <br>
 
−
2015 HSNCT: 145th/272 <br>
 
−
2016 NSC: 62nd/96 <br>
 
−
2017 NSC: 51st/96 <br>
 
−
2018 [[SSNCT]] Open Division: 5th/64 <br>
 
−
2018 HSNCT: T51st/352 <br>
 
−
2018 NASAT: 13th (Ethan Ashbrook of Illinois B)
 
−
=External Links=
 
−
*[http://www.naqt.com/stats/school-results.jsp?org_id=66172 NAQT Results]
 
−
*[http://www.uni.illinois.edu School website]
 
  
 
{{NAQT Illinois State Champions}}
 
{{NAQT Illinois State Champions}}

Latest revision as of 13:08, 13 June 2024

University Laboratory High School
Uniwebmask.png
Location:
Urbana, IL
Coaches Kaila Simpson
State Championships IHSA: 2015 (A), 2019 (AA), 2022 (A), 2023 (A)
NAQT: 2018, 2020
Masonic: 2018 (2A), 2019 (2A), 2020 (2A), 2022 (3A)
National Appearances MSNCT: 2018
HSNCT: 2014-2015, 2018-2019, 2021-2024
SSNCT: 2018
NSC: 2016-2017, 2019, 2021-2024
Program Status Active
School Size 320 students
NAQT Page link
Not to be confused with Normal University High School or University of Chicago Laboratory School.

University of Illinois Laboratory High School, commonly known as "Uni" or "Uni Lab", is a public, selective-admissions high school on the University of Illinois campus in Urbana. Uni was the runner up at both the 2019 and 2021 HSNCTs and placed third at the 2019 PACE NSC. The team was coached by Chris Butler from 2012 to his retirement in 2021 and is now coached by Kaila Simpson. Since 2017, Uni has been one of the strongest teams in Illinois and possibly the strongest team south of the Chicago metro area.

2012–2017

The Uni High Scholastic Bowl team was founded in 2012 as the school trivia club and initially did not compete in tournaments. The team made its official quizbowl debut the following year, where they scored -5 points against IMSA in their very first game. Despite placing 30th out of 40 teams at the 2013 NAQT State Championship, they qualified for the 2014 and 2015 HSNCTs via other means and placed 201st and 145th respectively. In 2015, Uni won the Class A IHSA State Championship after a narrow victory against Peoria Christian. The following season, the IHSA moved Uni to the large school division for scholastic bowl (Class AA) despite Uni having only 250 students in its high school enrollment, due to IHSA's "success factor" policies for selective-admissions schools without set attendance zones. Under captain Andrew Stelzer, they placed second at the 2017 class AA IHSA tournament after defeating Rockford Auburn and Oak Park-River Forest in the preliminaries, then losing to IMSA in the final. At the NAQT State Championships, Uni placed 11th in 2016 and 9th in 2017.

2017-2020

Uni largely went unnoticed until the team's strength began to grow in 2018, when they became recognized as a state title contender in Illinois and a top-50 team nationwide. While defending champion, Stevenson, was absent due to bad weather, the A team comprised of Tim Cho, Ethan Ashbrook, Dylan Bowman, and Jonathan Lau won the 2018 NAQT Illinois State Championship by narrowly defeating Rockford Auburn, becoming the first school from Downstate Illinois to win the event and the smallest ever school to win a large school or open division tournament in Illinois. Uni also became the first team to win the championship with all four starters posting over 20 PP20TUH. The following month, Uni clinched a first-place win over Latin in the Class AA Masonic tournament after losing to them in the finals of the previous two Class AA Masonic championships. Uni placed 5th at the 2018 SSNCT and 51st at the 2018 HSNCT. That same year, their middle school team also placed T31st at the 2018 MSNCT.

In 2018, Uni decided to attend tournaments in the Chicago Metro Area to play against tougher competition, winning the 2018 New Trier Varsity Tournament where they defeated Detroit Catholic Central for the first time. At the 2019 NAQT Illinois State Championship, Uni placed third after losses to Auburn and Stevenson, then won the 2019 Masonic tournament for the second time. At the 2019 IHSA State Championship, Uni won their first ever Class AA title after winning the championship match on a tiebreaker question against Rockford Auburn. Later, at the 2019 HSNCT, Uni went 8–2 in the preliminary rounds, then went on an undefeated streak in the playoffs before falling to Beavercreek in both the winners bracket final and the championship match. At the 2019 NSC, the team placed third overall after losing to eventual champion Thomas Jefferson and runner-up Katy Taylor, then defeating Montgomery Blair in the third-place game.

Despite the loss of top history player Tim Cho to graduation, many people in the quizbowl community named Uni as the favorites to win the 2020 national season due to the impressive depth and generalism of Ethan Ashbrook and Dylan Bowman. During the 2019-20 season, Uni played without a full team at most tournaments, but still managed to secure several victories against top teams at tournaments such as Earlybird and WUFAT. At the 2019 Reinstein Varsity, Uni placed fourth after losses to Chattahoochee, Miami Valley, and Stevenson. In the 2020 NAQT Illinois State Championship, Uni won a second title after defeating Stevenson twice in a disadvantaged final. In March, Uni placed first at the Masonic State Championship for the third consecutive time, then won their 5th consecutive IHSA regional title. With the cancellation of the remainder of the IHSA State Series, HSNCT and PACE shortly afterward due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the team's 2020 season came to an abrupt end.

2020-2024

In the 2020-21 preseason poll, Uni was ranked 26th overall, but omitted from many ballots. However, the A team ranked in the top 10-20 teams nationwide throughout the 2020-21 season due to significant improvement by Lawrence Zhao, Arjun Kala, and Janaki Kapadia who had moved up from the previous year's B team. At the 2021 HSNCT, the team went undefeated in playoffs before falling to Barrington in two games of an advantaged final. At the 2021 PACE NSC, the team placed 16th after taking losses to Greenhill, Hunter, and Belmont.

Following the departure of senior Jonathan Lau and longtime coach Chris Butler, the team continued to be one of the strongest in the state. At the 2022 NAQT Illinois State Championship, the A team tied for 5th place, and won both the IHSA Class A and Masonic Class 3A state championships. The team went on to place T39th at the 2022 HSNCT and 20th at the 2022 PACE NSC. In the 2023 season, the team continued to perform at a high level despite the loss of science specialist Lawrence Zhao to graduation, winning their fourth IHSA State title in eight years. The team later placed 21st at HSNCT and 11th at PACE. The loss of top scorer Arjun Kala in the following 2024 season was quickly made up for by continued improvement from seniors Shreyas Singh and Shawn Syed. At the 2024 PACE NSC, the team would place 8th despite the absence of Shreyas, making the top bracket for the first time since the historic 2019 season.

National Results

  • 2014 HSNCT: 211th/272
  • 2015 HSNCT: 145th/272
  • 2016 NSC: 62nd/96
  • 2017 NSC: 51st/96
  • 2018 SSNCT 5th/64 (Open Division)
  • 2018 HSNCT: 51st/352
  • 2019 HSNCT: 2nd/336
  • 2019 NSC: 3rd/96
  • 2021 HSNCT: 2nd/224
  • 2021 NSC: 16th/80
  • 2022 HSNCT: 39th/272
  • 2022 NSC: 20th/72
  • 2023 HSNCT: 21st/304
  • 2023 NSC: 11th/72
  • 2024 HSNCT: 49th/320
  • 2024 NSC: 8th/72

All-State Honorees

  • 2017 Class A Second Team: Andrew Stelzer
  • 2018 Class AA First Team: Tim Cho
  • 2019 Class AA First Team: Ethan Ashbrook, Dylan Bowman, Tim Cho
  • 2020 Class AA First Team: Ethan Ashbrook, Dylan Bowman, Jonathan Lau
  • 2022 Class A First Team: Arjun Kala, Lawrence Zhao
  • 2022 Class A Second Team: Janaki Kapadia
  • 2023 Class A First Team: Arjun Kala, Shreyas Singh

Players for Team Illinois

  • 2018 Illinois B (T-13): Ethan Ashbrook
  • 2019 Illinois A (1st): Ethan Ashbrook
  • 2019 Illinois B (5th): Dylan Bowman, Tim Cho, Jonathan Lau
  • 2020 Illinois A (cancelled): Ethan Ashbrook, Dylan Bowman, Jonathan Lau
  • 2021 Illinois B (11th): Lawrence Zhao
  • 2023 Illinois B (T-3): Shreyas Singh

External Links

NAQT Illinois State Champion
Preceded by
Year
Succeeded by
Rockford Auburn
2020
Cancelled due to COVID-19
IHSA Class 1A State Champion
Preceded by
Year
Succeeded by
Chicago Christian
2022, 23
Metro-East Lutheran
IHSA Class 2A State Champion
Preceded by
Year
Succeeded by
Stevenson
2019
Cancelled due to COVID-19
Illinois Masonic State Tournament Class 2A Champion
Preceded by
Year
Succeeded by
Latin School
2018, 2019, 2020
Herscher
Illinois Masonic State Tournament Class 3A Champion
Preceded by
Year
Succeeded by
Cancelled due to COVID-19
2022
Barrington

NAQT Illinois State Champions

Champions (2005-pres)
Stevenson (2005) · Stevenson (2006) · New Trier (2007) · Auburn (2008) · Auburn (2009) · Auburn (2010) · Stevenson (2011) · Auburn (2012) · IMSA (2013) · IMSA A (2014) · Auburn (2015) · Auburn (2016) · Stevenson A (2017) · UIUC Lab (2018) · Auburn (2019) · UIUC Lab (2020) · Buffalo Grove (2022)
Small School Champions (2013-pres)
Peoria Christian (2013) · Litchfield (2014) · Macomb A (2015) · Macomb A (2016) · Southwestern A (2017) · UIUC Lab (2018) · UIUC Lab (2019) · UIUC Lab (2020) · UIUC Lab (2022)

IHSA State Championship

1987-91
Quincy (1987) · Quincy (1988) · IMSA (1989) · IMSA (1990) · Centralia (1991)
Class AA (1992-present)
Hinsdale Central (1992) · Quincy (1993) · IMSA (1994) · Richwoods (1995) · IMSA (1996) · IMSA (1997) · IMSA (1998) · IMSA (1999) · Stevenson (2000) · IMSA (2001) · Wheaton North (2002) · Wheaton North (2003) · Wheaton North (2004) · Stevenson (2005) · Fremd (2006) · New Trier (2007) · Auburn (2008) · Carbondale (2009) · IMSA (2010) · IMSA (2011) · IMSA (2012) · IMSA (2013) · IMSA (2014) · Auburn (2015) · Hinsdale Central (2016) · IMSA (2017) · Stevenson (2018) · University Lab (2019)
Class A (1992-present)
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