Difference between revisions of "VHSL Scholastic Bowl"

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The '''Virginia High School League''', which governs Virginia public-school participation in extracurricular activities including sports and academic contests, began offering a Scholastic Bowl title in 1998. The VHSL championship is notable for being the first state championship associated with an activities association to be run on [[good quizbowl|good Quiz Bowl]] questions after signing a contract with [[HSAPQ]] to provide the questions beginning with the 2009-2010 season.
+
The '''Virginia High School League''' offers a comprehensive program of extracurricular activities including sports and academic contests in Virginia and began offering a Scholastic Bowl title in 1998. The three-class system was in effect through the 2012-2013 year. Beginning in 2013-2014, thanks to the [[2014 VHSL Realignment]], new conferences and a six-class state tournament were implemented.
  
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==Structure==
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==Prior to 1998==
  
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Since its inception, the tournament has used the VHSL's overall classification of schools into groups A, AA, and AAA based primarily on school size. In VHSL, schools can have their division adjusted from what their student body size alone should indicate if they are in a geographic region where most other schools are in a particular group, to make travel to athletic events easier; for state championship implications in Scholastic Bowl, this most notably affects [[Maggie Walker]], which should be a group A school by enrollment numbers, but plays in group AAA in all VHSL events including Scholastic Bowl. As Governors' Schools, both Maggie Walker and Thomas Jefferson would play in Group AAA in academic activities even if they played down for athletic activities.
+
Quizbowl in Virginia existed in several forms prior to the awarding of a VHSL state championship, including:
 +
*independent weekend tournaments run by high schools and colleges, with [[Spotswood]], [[Thomas Jefferson (VA)]], and [[Virginia Tech]] being among the longest-tenured hosts
 +
*TV tournaments such as [[It's Academic]], [[Battle of the Brains]], [[Tidewater Challenge]], and [[Pop Quiz]]
 +
*leagues and championship tournaments run at the sub-state level by certain VHSL regions - more information on this is desired
  
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Each district produces two teams to send to regionals. Some districts hold a Saturday tournament for this purpose, some have a "regular season," and some have both, with each winner getting one of the spots. Two districts in southwestern Virginia have elected to not play Scholastic Bowl, choosing instead to play their traditional format.
+
==Structure (1998-2013)==
  
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Each of the four regional tournaments sends its top two teams to the state championship. The state championship consists of the top eight teams (in each enrollment class) playing a double-elimination tournament. The state championship has been held at William & Mary every year, but has not been affiliated with the quizbowl club created there in fall 2006.
+
From the time of Scholastic Bowl's inception to the end of the 2012-2013 year, the VHSL classified schools into groups [[VHSL_Class_A_(1998-2013)|A]], [[VHSL_Class_AA_(1998-2013)|AA]], and [[VHSL_Class_AAA_(1998-2013)|AAA]] based primarily on school size. Many schools played up or down from where their size would dictate in order to be in the same division as geographically nearby opponents. Both Maggie Walker and Thomas Jefferson were required by rule to play in Group AAA in academic activities regardless of school size. This system was eliminated in the [[2014 VHSL Realignment]].
  
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Performance in Scholastic Bowl and other academic activities sponsored by VHSL (including debate, and forensics) counts towards a school's standing in the Wachovia Cup in Academics, an overall title awarded to the school with the best performance in all non-athletic VHSL events. There is also a Wachovia Cup for Athletics.  
+
Each district produced two teams to send to regionals. 44 of the 46 districts in VHSL participated in Scholastic Bowl.
  
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The tournament was first written and directed by [[Claude Sandy]], a retired Academic Decathlon administrator with no prior connection to quizbowl. Tournaments in his 1998-2000 purview were noted for recycling questions and having less than 2 literature questions in an average match. After [[Shawn Pickrell]] took over in 2001, the questions steadily improved, though the odd distribution, format, and tournament structure still made VHSL events notoriously frustrating for teams more accustomed to regular quizbowl. [[HSAPQ]] began writing the questions in Fall 2009, to the general acclaim of most circuit teams.
+
Each of the four regional tournaments sent its top two teams to the state championship. The state championship consisted of the top eight teams (in each enrollment class) playing a double-elimination tournament. The state championship was held at [[Charlottesville]] High School in 1998 and at William & Mary from 1999 onwards.
 +
 
 +
Performance in Scholastic Bowl and other academic activities sponsored by VHSL (including debate, and forensics) counts towards a school's standing in the Wachovia Cup in Academics, an overall title awarded to the school with the best performance in all non-athletic VHSL events. There is also a Wachovia Cup for Athletics.
 +
 
 +
==Structure (2014-2017)==
 +
 
 +
Districts were used only for the optional regular season. Postseason play began in Conferences. Conferences each sent two teams to Regionals, and each Regional, of which there were two per class, sent two teams to the state tournament. The state tournament involved each of the six classes playing a four-team, three-game round robin; three-way ties were broken on total points (not played off) under the announced system.
 +
 
 +
The new classes were known as [[VHSL Class 6A|6A]], [[VHSL Class 5A|5A]], [[VHSL Class 4A|4A]], [[VHSL Class 3A|3A]], [[VHSL Class 2A|2A]], and [[VHSL Class 1A|1A]]. Magnet schools no longer played up in the highest class for academic competitions, and instead played in the class that their enrollment size dictated.
 +
 
 +
In a more minor change, conferences and regions were required to choose from either a round-robin or double-elimination format and could not design their own formats.
 +
 
 +
==Structure (2018-)==
 +
The [[2018 VHSL Realignment]] keeps the class system intact except for changing the naming of the classes from using the system of "A"s. For example, 6A will now be called Class 6. Conferences are eliminated and replaced with districts for the regular season. Postseason play will begin at regional tournaments, of which there will now be four per class.
 +
 
 +
==Leadership & Questions==
 +
 
 +
===1998-2000===
 +
 
 +
The tournament was first written and directed by [[Claude Sandy]], a retired Academic Decathlon administrator with no prior connection to quizbowl. Tournaments in his purview were noted for recycling questions and having less than 2 literature questions in an average match, most of which are on repetitive pet topics such as Zane Grey and the fact that Leo Tolstoy held the noble rank of "count."
 +
 
 +
===2001-2009===
 +
 
 +
In 2001, [[Shawn Pickrell]] took over as Commissioner and chief question writer. He implemented a strategy by which Regionals and States (but not the regular season or Districts) gradually became more [[pyramidal]] and the stated subject distribution of the packets was roughly followed.
 +
 
 +
===2010-2017===
 +
 
 +
In 2010, Pickrell resigned and [[Fred Campbell]] became the new Commissioner, contracting with [[HSAPQ]] to provide the questions. """
 +
"[[Good quizbowl]]" principles were introduced at all levels of the competition.
 +
 
 +
===2018-present===
 +
 
 +
In Fall 2017, it was announced that [[NAQT]] would be the new question provider for Scholastic Bowl's regular season, Regionals, Super Regionals, and State tournaments.
  
 
==VHSL Format==
 
==VHSL Format==
  
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The eccentric format used in VHSL matches consists of a round of fifteen tossups, ten "directed questions" for each team, and a concluding phase of fifteen more tossups. It is somewhat based on the format of the Mountain Academic Competition Conference and the Southwest Virginia Academic Conference, where ten "directed questions" per team are followed by ten tossups. At the end of the first round, the team that is behind may choose either set A or set B of the "directed questions." Question 1 from set A is read to the team who has set A, and if the team misses it, the other team can answer the question. The remaining questions are read in alternate order (1B, 2A, 2B, etc.) until question 10 in set B. Much like on the "Match Game" television show, there is no discernible or non-random difference between the contents of "Set A" and "Set B", so the privilege of choosing first has no apparent value. Tossups are scored with the normal 10 and -5 system, and "directed" questions are worth 10 points each. Computation math questions are read twice to provide more solving time.
+
The format used in VHSL matches consists of a round of fifteen tossups, ten "directed questions" for each team which bounce back, and a concluding phase of fifteen more tossups. Tossups are scored in the normal quizbowl way but lack powermarking. Directed questions are worth 10 points each and function similarly to a single-part bonus, but their reading is not correlated to answering tossups.
  
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==Problems==
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===Origin of the format===
  
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As the VHSL is an organization of public schools, such longstanding Virginia programs as [[St. Christopher's]], [[Collegiate (VA)|Collegiate]], and [[St. Anne's]] have been unable to participate in VHSL tournaments or compete for the state title. Such schools are eligible for the [[NAQT Virginia Championship]].  
+
The format is somewhat based on the format of the Mountain Academic Competition Conference and the Southwest Virginia Academic Conference, two local organizations which ran quizbowl competitions prior to the formation of Scholastic Bowl. The format is not used at any non-Scholastic Bowl events (nearly all independent events in Virginia use standard [[ACF]] format).
  
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B teams are not eligible for VHSL participation, despite B teams from various schools often being among the 5-10 best teams in the state.
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==Eligibility notes==
  
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Some districts run a lengthy "regular season" on VHSL matches, conducted in brief after-school meets, which discourages teams from attending normal tournaments on Saturdays. However, many districts have never had a history of attending Saturday tournaments. The VHSL has never placed any limit on attendance at non-VHSL events, although individual districts may choose to place such restrictions.  
+
State-level VHSL competition is restricted to one team per school, though some district-level Scholastic Bowl tournaments have JV divisions and/or allow B teams.
  
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District and regional scheduling is generally haphazard, unadvertised (even to teams attending!), and difficult to predict, which makes it virtually impossible to avoid a conflict with some Virginia teams when scheduling an independent high school tournament.
+
The VHSL is not formally limited to public schools and in 2015 voted to allow "non-boarding" private schools to join. In practice, the only known private school that began playing VHSL sports is Liberty Christian Academy in Lynchburg. LCA participated in its local Scholastic Bowl league starting in 2024.
  
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The format used at VHSL events is not used at any other tournament in Virginia, and does not reflect the normal conception of quizbowl in the state. This disconnect is also reflected in the tournament name, as "Scholastic Bowl" is a term rarely used to refer to quizbowl in Virginia. More often, "It's Academic," "ACE" (for Academic Competition for Excellence), "Academic Challenge," and "Battle of the Brains" are used.  
+
Some specialty public schools that are too small to support a full sports program are not members of VHSL and thus do not play Scholastic Bowl.
  
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Questions in the Claude Sandy era were notorious for being among the worst ever produced for high school quizbowl, with leadins such as "This Beethoven opera" and "This Gaston Leroux novel" existing side by side with questions on the works of Zane Grey and attempts to uniquely define specious concepts such as "the separation of powers." Teams often had to play "Zen quizbowl" in which all emotions about the quality of the tournament were suppressed in order to avoid tournament-losing levels of distracting anger.
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The VHSL does not include half-day magnet programs such as [[Mountain Vista]] and requires students in those programs to play sports and activities such as Scholastic Bowl for their home schools. Prior to the late 2010s, invitational tournaments in Virginia usually allowed these kinds of magnets to participate, though this has become less common in recent years following a renewed focus on clear and enforced eligibility rules.
  
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==State Championship Results==
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VHSL has minimum courseload requirements for all sports and activities which, in simplified form, require a "take five/pass five" approach; students must be enrolled in five for-credit courses during the current semester and must have passed five for-credit courses during the prior semester. While this rarely causes issues with Scholastic Bowl participants, there have been cases where local schools allowed 12th graders with near-complete graduation requirements to take fewer than five courses at the school and complete their day on independent study. These students were generally eligible for quizbowl due to being enrolled at the school but were not eligible for Scholastic Bowl due to failing to meet the five-course minimum.
  
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{| border="1" cellspacing="0"
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In the 1990s and 2000s competitive teams such as [[St. Christopher's]], [[Collegiate (VA)|Collegiate]], and [[St. Anne's]] were unable to participate in VHSL tournaments or compete for the state title due to the de facto public/private school split. Since at least 2007 the consensus best overall team in Virginia has always been a public school (Thomas Jefferson, Cave Spring, Maggie Walker, or Western Albemarle) though it is possible that some of the private schools could have contended for titles in the VHSL's multi-class system.
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! Years
+
 
−
! AAA Champion
+
==State Championship Results (1998-2013 Classification System)==
−
! AAA Second Place
+
 
−
! AA Champion
+
{|-
−
! AA Second Place
+
|
−
! A Champion
+
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center"
−
! A Second Place
+
|-
 +
!rowspan=2| Year
 +
!colspan=2| [[VHSL_Class_AAA_(1998-2013)|Class AAA]]
 +
!colspan=2| [[VHSL_Class_AA_(1998-2013)|Class AA]]
 +
!colspan=2| [[VHSL_Class_A_(1998-2013)|Class A]]
 +
|-
 +
! Champion
 +
! Second Place
 +
! Champion
 +
! Second Place
 +
! Champion
 +
! Second Place
 
|-  
 
|-  
−
| 1998
+
| [[1998 VHSL State Championship|1998]]
 
| [[1998 Thomas Jefferson (VA)|Thomas Jefferson]]
 
| [[1998 Thomas Jefferson (VA)|Thomas Jefferson]]
 
| [[1998 Lake Braddock|Lake Braddock]]
 
| [[1998 Lake Braddock|Lake Braddock]]
−
| [[1998 Western Albemarle|Western Albermarle]]
+
| [[1998 Western Albemarle|Western Albemarle]]
 
| [[1998 Blacksburg|Blacksburg]]
 
| [[1998 Blacksburg|Blacksburg]]
 
| [[1998 Radford|Radford]]
 
| [[1998 Radford|Radford]]
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| [[2002 Thomas Jefferson (VA)|Thomas Jefferson]]
 
| [[2002 Thomas Jefferson (VA)|Thomas Jefferson]]
 
| [[2002 Albemarle|Albemarle]]
 
| [[2002 Albemarle|Albemarle]]
−
| [[2002 Robert E. Lee (Staunton, VA)|Robert E. Lee]]
+
| [[2002 Staunton|Staunton]]
 
| [[2002 Blacksburg|Blacksburg]]
 
| [[2002 Blacksburg|Blacksburg]]
−
| [[2002 George Mason|George Mason]]
+
| [[2002 Meridian|Meridian]]
 
| [[2002 Buffalo Gap|Buffalo Gap]]
 
| [[2002 Buffalo Gap|Buffalo Gap]]
 
|-
 
|-
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| [[2003 Maggie Walker|Maggie Walker]]
 
| [[2003 Maggie Walker|Maggie Walker]]
 
| [[2003 Thomas Jefferson (VA)|Thomas Jefferson]]
 
| [[2003 Thomas Jefferson (VA)|Thomas Jefferson]]
−
| [[2003 Salem|Salem]]
+
| [[2003 Salem (Salem, VA)|Salem]]
 
| [[2003 Spotswood|Spotswood]]
 
| [[2003 Spotswood|Spotswood]]
−
| [[2003 George Mason|George Mason]]
+
| [[2003 Meridian|Meridian]]
 
| [[2003 Middlesex|Middlesex]]
 
| [[2003 Middlesex|Middlesex]]
 
|-
 
|-
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| [[2004 Thomas Jefferson (VA)|Thomas Jefferson]]
 
| [[2004 Thomas Jefferson (VA)|Thomas Jefferson]]
 
| [[2004 Maggie Walker|Maggie Walker]]
 
| [[2004 Maggie Walker|Maggie Walker]]
−
| [[2004 Robert E. Lee (Staunton, VA)|Robert E. Lee]]
+
| [[2004 Staunton|Staunton]]
−
| [[2004 Loudoun|Loudoun]]
+
| [[2004 Loudoun County|Loudoun County]]
 
| [[2004 Eastern Montgomery|Eastern Montgomery]]
 
| [[2004 Eastern Montgomery|Eastern Montgomery]]
−
| [[2004 George Mason|George Mason]]
+
| [[2004 Meridian|Meridian]]
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 2005
 
| 2005
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| [[2006 Blacksburg|Blacksburg]]
 
| [[2006 Blacksburg|Blacksburg]]
 
| [[2006 Radford|Radford]]
 
| [[2006 Radford|Radford]]
−
| [[2006 George Mason|George Mason]]
+
| [[2006 Meridian|Meridian]]
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 2007
 
| 2007
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| [[2007 Charlottesville|Charlottesville]]
 
| [[2007 Charlottesville|Charlottesville]]
 
| [[2007 Heritage (Lynchburg, VA)|Heritage]]
 
| [[2007 Heritage (Lynchburg, VA)|Heritage]]
−
| [[2007 George Mason|George Mason]]
+
| [[2007 Meridian|Meridian]]
 
| [[2007 Radford|Radford]]
 
| [[2007 Radford|Radford]]
 
|-
 
|-
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| [[2009 James Monroe|James Monroe]]
 
| [[2009 James Monroe|James Monroe]]
 
| [[2009 Heritage|Heritage]]
 
| [[2009 Heritage|Heritage]]
−
| [[2009 Rappahannock County|Rappahannock]]
+
| [[2009 Rappahannock County|Rappahannock Co.]]
−
| [[2009 George Mason|George Mason]]
+
| [[2009 Meridian|Meridian]]
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 2010
 
| 2010
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| [[2010 Blacksburg |Blacksburg]]
 
| [[2010 Blacksburg |Blacksburg]]
 
| [[2010 New Kent |New Kent]]
 
| [[2010 New Kent |New Kent]]
−
| [[2010 George Mason |George Mason]]
+
| [[2010 Meridian|Meridian]]
 
| [[2010 Honaker |Honaker]]
 
| [[2010 Honaker |Honaker]]
 
|-
 
|-
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| [[2011 Christiansburg|Christiansburg]]
 
| [[2011 Christiansburg|Christiansburg]]
 
| [[2011 Western Albemarle|Western Albemarle]]
 
| [[2011 Western Albemarle|Western Albemarle]]
−
| [[2011 George Mason|George Mason]]
+
| [[2011 Meridian|Meridian]]
 
| [[2011 Nandua|Nandua]]
 
| [[2011 Nandua|Nandua]]
 
|-
 
|-
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| [[2012 Cave Spring|Cave Spring]]
 
| [[2012 Cave Spring|Cave Spring]]
 
| [[2012 Christiansburg|Christiansburg]]
 
| [[2012 Christiansburg|Christiansburg]]
−
| [[2012 George Mason|George Mason]]
+
| [[2012 Meridian|Meridian]]
 
| [[2012 Honaker|Honaker]]
 
| [[2012 Honaker|Honaker]]
 +
|-
 +
| 2013
 +
| [[2013 Thomas Jefferson (VA)|Thomas Jefferson]]
 +
| [[2013 Maggie Walker|Maggie Walker]]
 +
| [[2013 New Kent|New Kent]]
 +
| [[2013 Western Albemarle|Western Albemarle]]
 +
| [[2013 Meridian|Meridian]]
 +
| [[2013 Honaker|Honaker]]
 
|-
 
|-
 
|}
 
|}
  
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==Links==
+
Notes on names:
 +
 
 +
*T. C. Williams changed its name to Alexandria City High School in 2021.
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 +
*Prior to 2002, the school that is now Maggie Walker participated in VHSL sports and activities on a combined team with Thomas Jefferson High School in Richmond; to avoid confusion with the Thomas Jefferson in Alexandria which appears several times in the above table, the Maggie Walker name is intentionally being used here anachronistically.
 +
 
 +
*Robert E. Lee changed its name to Staunton High School in 2020.
 +
 
 +
*George Mason changed its name to Meridian High School in 2021.
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 +
*Stonewall Jackson changed its name to Unity Reed High School in 2020.
 +
 
 +
==State Championship Results (2014-present Classification System)==
 +
 
 +
Note: Classes were renamed in 2018; "Class 6A" became "Class 6," etc.  Other than normal year-to-year realignment based on school size fluctuations, the only other change to the structure of the postseason series occurred at the lower levels.  Since the state championship tournament format and class structure did not change, results from before and after 2018 are combined in one table.
 +
 
 +
{|-
 +
|
 +
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center"
 +
|-
 +
!rowspan=2 | Year
 +
!colspan=2 | [[VHSL Class 6|Class 6]]
 +
!colspan=2 | [[VHSL Class 5|Class 5]]
 +
!colspan=2 | [[VHSL Class 4|Class 4]]
 +
!colspan=2 | [[VHSL Class 3|Class 3]]
 +
!colspan=2 | [[VHSL Class 2|Class 2]]
 +
!colspan=2 | [[VHSL Class 1|Class 1]]
 +
|-
 +
! Champion
 +
! Runner-up
 +
! Champion
 +
! Runner-up
 +
! Champion
 +
! Runner-up
 +
! Champion
 +
! Runner-up
 +
! Champion
 +
! Runner-up
 +
! Champion
 +
! Runner-up
 +
|-
 +
| [[2014 VHSL State Championship|2014]]
 +
| [[2014 Langley|Langley]]
 +
| [[2014 Unity Reed|Unity Reed]]
 +
| [[2014 Albemarle|Albemarle]]
 +
| [[2014 Thomas Jefferson (VA)|Thomas Jefferson]]
 +
| [[2014 Loudoun County|Loudoun County]]
 +
| [[2014 Woodgrove|Woodgrove]]
 +
| [[2014 Western Albemarle|Western Albemarle]]
 +
| [[2014 Blacksburg|Blacksburg]]
 +
| [[2014 Maggie Walker|Maggie Walker]]
 +
| [[2014 Meridian|Meridian]]
 +
| [[2014 Honaker|Honaker]]
 +
| [[2014 Mathews|Mathews]]
 +
|-
 +
| [[2015 VHSL State Championship|2015]]
 +
| [[2015 Langley|Langley]]
 +
| [[2015 Western Branch|Western Branch]]
 +
| [[2015 Albemarle|Albemarle]]
 +
| [[2015 Thomas Jefferson (VA)|Thomas Jefferson]]
 +
| [[2015 Woodgrove|Woodgrove]]
 +
| [[2015 Loudoun County|Loudoun County]]
 +
| [[2015 Western Albemarle|Western Albemarle]]
 +
| [[2015 Cave Spring|Cave Spring]]
 +
| [[2015 Maggie Walker|Maggie Walker]]
 +
| [[2015 Meridian|Meridian]]
 +
| [[2015 Rappahannock County|Rappahannock Co.]]
 +
| [[2015 Radford|Radford]]
 +
|-
 +
| [[2016 VHSL State Championship|2016]]
 +
| [[2016 Langley|Langley]]
 +
| [[2016 W.T. Woodson|W.T. Woodson]]
 +
| [[2016 Thomas Jefferson (VA)|Thomas Jefferson]]
 +
| [[2016 Princess Anne|Princess Anne]]
 +
| [[2016 Fauquier|Fauquier]]
 +
| [[2016 Sherando|Sherando]]
 +
| [[2016 Cave Spring|Cave Spring]]
 +
| [[2016 Culpeper County|Culpeper County]]
 +
| [[2016 Central (VA)|Central-Wise]]
 +
| [[2016 Maggie Walker|Maggie Walker]]
 +
| [[2016 Honaker|Honaker]]
 +
| [[2016 Riverheads|Riverheads]]
 +
|-
 +
| [[2017 VHSL State Championship|2017]]
 +
| [[2017 Robinson (VA)|Robinson]]
 +
| [[2017 McLean|McLean]]
 +
| [[2017 Thomas Jefferson (VA)|Thomas Jefferson]]
 +
| [[2017 Princess Anne|Princess Anne]]
 +
| [[2017 Loudoun County|Loudoun County]]
 +
| [[2017 Sherando|Sherando]]
 +
| [[2017 Cave Spring|Cave Spring]]
 +
| [[2017 Blacksburg|Blacksburg]]
 +
| [[2017 Maggie Walker|Maggie Walker]]
 +
| [[2017 Central (VA)|Central-Wise]]
 +
| [[2017 Honaker|Honaker]]
 +
| [[2017 Galileo Magnet|Galileo Magnet]]
 +
|-
 +
| [[2018 2018 VHSL State Championship|2018]]
 +
| [[2018 Robinson (VA)|Robinson]]
 +
| [[2018 McLean|McLean]]
 +
| [[2018 Thomas Jefferson (VA)|Thomas Jefferson]]
 +
| [[2018 Princess Anne|Princess Anne]]
 +
| [[2018 Jamestown|Jamestown]]
 +
| [[2018 Jefferson Forest|Jefferson Forest]]
 +
| [[2018 Cave Spring|Cave Spring]]
 +
| [[2018 Western Albemarle|Western Albemarle]]
 +
| [[2018 Maggie Walker|Maggie Walker]]
 +
| [[2018 Central (VA)|Central-Wise]]
 +
| [[2018 Galileo Magnet|Galileo Magnet]]
 +
| [[2018 Honaker|Honaker]]
 +
|-
 +
| [[2019 VHSL State Championship|2019]]
 +
| [[2019 Alexandria City|Alexandria City]]
 +
| [[2019 Robinson (VA)|Robinson]]
 +
| [[2019 Thomas Jefferson (VA)|Thomas Jefferson]]
 +
| [[2019 Douglas Freeman|Douglas Freeman]]
 +
| [[2019 Jamestown|Jamestown]]
 +
| [[2019 Woodgrove|Woodgrove]]
 +
| [[2019 Rockbridge County|Rockbridge County]]
 +
| [[2019 Cave Spring|Cave Spring]]
 +
| [[2019 Maggie Walker|Maggie Walker]]
 +
| [[2019 Clarke County|Clarke County]]
 +
| [[2019 Honaker|Honaker]]
 +
| [[2019 George Wythe|George Wythe]]
 +
|-
 +
| [[2020 VHSL State Championship|2020]]
 +
| [[2020 McLean|McLean]]
 +
| [[2020 Robinson (VA)|Robinson]]
 +
| [[2020 Thomas Jefferson (VA)|Thomas Jefferson]]
 +
| [[2020 Princess Anne|Princess Anne]]
 +
| [[2020 Jamestown|Jamestown]]
 +
| [[2020 Blacksburg|Blacksburg]]
 +
| [[2020 Fort Defiance|Fort Defiance]]
 +
| [[2020 Maggie Walker|Maggie Walker]]
 +
| [[2020 Clarke County|Clarke County]]
 +
| [[2020 Gate City|Gate City]]
 +
| [[2020 George Wythe|George Wythe]]
 +
| [[2020 Rappahannock County|Rappahannock Co.]]
 +
|-
 +
| [[2021 VHSL State Championship|2021]]
 +
| [[2021 Robinson (VA)|Robinson]]
 +
| [[2021 John Champe|John Champe]]
 +
| [[2021 Thomas Jefferson (VA)|Thomas Jefferson]]
 +
| [[2021 Harrisonburg|Harrisonburg]]
 +
| [[2021 Grafton|Grafton]]
 +
| [[2021 Jefferson Forest|Jefferson Forest]]
 +
| [[2021 Maggie Walker|Maggie Walker]]
 +
| [[2021 Fort Defiance|Fort Defiance]]
 +
| [[2021 Gate City|Gate City]]
 +
| [[2021 Radford|Radford]]
 +
| [[2021 George Wythe|George Wythe]]
 +
| [[2021 Galileo Magnet|Galileo Magnet]]
 +
|-
 +
| [[2022 VHSL State Championship|2022]]
 +
| [[2022 Thomas Jefferson (VA)|Thomas Jefferson]]
 +
| [[2022 McLean|McLean]]
 +
| [[2022 Douglas Freeman|Douglas Freeman]]
 +
| [[2022 Princess Anne|Princess Anne]]
 +
| [[2022 Lightridge|Lightridge]]
 +
| [[2022 Jamestown|Jamestown]]
 +
| [[2022 Rockbridge County| Rockbridge County]]
 +
| [[2022 Hidden Valley|Hidden Valley]]
 +
| [[2022 Radford|Radford]]
 +
| [[2022 Buckingham County|Buckingham County]]
 +
| [[2022 George Wythe|George Wythe]]
 +
| [[2022 Galileo Magnet|Galileo Magnet]]
 +
|-
 +
| [[2023 VHSL State Championship|2023]]
 +
| [[2023 Thomas Jefferson (VA)|Thomas Jefferson]]
 +
| [[2023 McLean|McLean]]
 +
| [[2023 Princess Anne|Princess Anne]]
 +
| [[2023 Albemarle|Albemarle]]
 +
| [[2023 Lightridge|Lightridge]]
 +
| [[2023 Great Bridge|Great Bridge]]
 +
| [[2023 Maggie Walker|Maggie Walker]]
 +
| [[2023 Fort Defiance|Fort Defiance]]
 +
| [[2023 Buckingham County|Buckingham County]]
 +
| [[2023 Richlands|Richlands]]
 +
| [[2023 George Wythe|George Wythe]]
 +
| [[2023 Galileo Magnet|Galileo Magnet]]
 +
|-
 +
| [[2024 VHSL State Championship|2024]]
 +
| [[2024 McLean|McLean]]
 +
| [[2024 Thomas Jefferson (VA)|Thomas Jefferson]]
 +
| [[2024 Ocean Lakes|Ocean Lakes]]
 +
| [[2024 Lightridge|Lightridge]]
 +
| [[2024 Blacksburg|Blacksburg]]
 +
| [[2024 John Champe|John Champe]]
 +
| [[2024 Maggie Walker|Maggie Walker]]
 +
| [[2024 Rockbridge|Rockbridge]]
 +
| [[2024 Ridgeview|Ridgeview]]
 +
| [[2024 Poquoson|Poquoson]]
 +
| [[2024 John I. Burton|John I. Burton]]
 +
| [[2024 George Wythe|George Wythe]]
 +
|-
 +
|}
  
−
The VHSL Scholastic Bowl manual contains all the rules of Scholastic Bowl as well as an archive of state champions and regional winners: http://www.vhsl.org/ScholasticBowl/ScholasticBowlManual.pdf
+
==External Links==
 +
* [http://www.vhsl.org/activities.scholastic-bowl VHSL Scholastic Bowl Homepage]
 +
* [https://www.facebook.com/VHSLschobo/?fref=ts VHSL Scholastic Bowl on Facebook]
 +
* [https://twitter.com/VHSL_activities VHSL Activities on Twitter]
  
 
[[Category:High school tournaments]]
 
[[Category:High school tournaments]]

Latest revision as of 15:40, 22 July 2024

The Virginia High School League offers a comprehensive program of extracurricular activities including sports and academic contests in Virginia and began offering a Scholastic Bowl title in 1998. The three-class system was in effect through the 2012-2013 year. Beginning in 2013-2014, thanks to the 2014 VHSL Realignment, new conferences and a six-class state tournament were implemented.

Prior to 1998

Quizbowl in Virginia existed in several forms prior to the awarding of a VHSL state championship, including:

Structure (1998-2013)

From the time of Scholastic Bowl's inception to the end of the 2012-2013 year, the VHSL classified schools into groups A, AA, and AAA based primarily on school size. Many schools played up or down from where their size would dictate in order to be in the same division as geographically nearby opponents. Both Maggie Walker and Thomas Jefferson were required by rule to play in Group AAA in academic activities regardless of school size. This system was eliminated in the 2014 VHSL Realignment.

Each district produced two teams to send to regionals. 44 of the 46 districts in VHSL participated in Scholastic Bowl.

Each of the four regional tournaments sent its top two teams to the state championship. The state championship consisted of the top eight teams (in each enrollment class) playing a double-elimination tournament. The state championship was held at Charlottesville High School in 1998 and at William & Mary from 1999 onwards.

Performance in Scholastic Bowl and other academic activities sponsored by VHSL (including debate, and forensics) counts towards a school's standing in the Wachovia Cup in Academics, an overall title awarded to the school with the best performance in all non-athletic VHSL events. There is also a Wachovia Cup for Athletics.

Structure (2014-2017)

Districts were used only for the optional regular season. Postseason play began in Conferences. Conferences each sent two teams to Regionals, and each Regional, of which there were two per class, sent two teams to the state tournament. The state tournament involved each of the six classes playing a four-team, three-game round robin; three-way ties were broken on total points (not played off) under the announced system.

The new classes were known as 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A, 2A, and 1A. Magnet schools no longer played up in the highest class for academic competitions, and instead played in the class that their enrollment size dictated.

In a more minor change, conferences and regions were required to choose from either a round-robin or double-elimination format and could not design their own formats.

Structure (2018-)

The 2018 VHSL Realignment keeps the class system intact except for changing the naming of the classes from using the system of "A"s. For example, 6A will now be called Class 6. Conferences are eliminated and replaced with districts for the regular season. Postseason play will begin at regional tournaments, of which there will now be four per class.

Leadership & Questions

1998-2000

The tournament was first written and directed by Claude Sandy, a retired Academic Decathlon administrator with no prior connection to quizbowl. Tournaments in his purview were noted for recycling questions and having less than 2 literature questions in an average match, most of which are on repetitive pet topics such as Zane Grey and the fact that Leo Tolstoy held the noble rank of "count."

2001-2009

In 2001, Shawn Pickrell took over as Commissioner and chief question writer. He implemented a strategy by which Regionals and States (but not the regular season or Districts) gradually became more pyramidal and the stated subject distribution of the packets was roughly followed.

2010-2017

In 2010, Pickrell resigned and Fred Campbell became the new Commissioner, contracting with HSAPQ to provide the questions. """ "Good quizbowl" principles were introduced at all levels of the competition.

2018-present

In Fall 2017, it was announced that NAQT would be the new question provider for Scholastic Bowl's regular season, Regionals, Super Regionals, and State tournaments.

VHSL Format

The format used in VHSL matches consists of a round of fifteen tossups, ten "directed questions" for each team which bounce back, and a concluding phase of fifteen more tossups. Tossups are scored in the normal quizbowl way but lack powermarking. Directed questions are worth 10 points each and function similarly to a single-part bonus, but their reading is not correlated to answering tossups.

Origin of the format

The format is somewhat based on the format of the Mountain Academic Competition Conference and the Southwest Virginia Academic Conference, two local organizations which ran quizbowl competitions prior to the formation of Scholastic Bowl. The format is not used at any non-Scholastic Bowl events (nearly all independent events in Virginia use standard ACF format).

Eligibility notes

State-level VHSL competition is restricted to one team per school, though some district-level Scholastic Bowl tournaments have JV divisions and/or allow B teams.

The VHSL is not formally limited to public schools and in 2015 voted to allow "non-boarding" private schools to join. In practice, the only known private school that began playing VHSL sports is Liberty Christian Academy in Lynchburg. LCA participated in its local Scholastic Bowl league starting in 2024.

Some specialty public schools that are too small to support a full sports program are not members of VHSL and thus do not play Scholastic Bowl.

The VHSL does not include half-day magnet programs such as Mountain Vista and requires students in those programs to play sports and activities such as Scholastic Bowl for their home schools. Prior to the late 2010s, invitational tournaments in Virginia usually allowed these kinds of magnets to participate, though this has become less common in recent years following a renewed focus on clear and enforced eligibility rules.

VHSL has minimum courseload requirements for all sports and activities which, in simplified form, require a "take five/pass five" approach; students must be enrolled in five for-credit courses during the current semester and must have passed five for-credit courses during the prior semester. While this rarely causes issues with Scholastic Bowl participants, there have been cases where local schools allowed 12th graders with near-complete graduation requirements to take fewer than five courses at the school and complete their day on independent study. These students were generally eligible for quizbowl due to being enrolled at the school but were not eligible for Scholastic Bowl due to failing to meet the five-course minimum.

In the 1990s and 2000s competitive teams such as St. Christopher's, Collegiate, and St. Anne's were unable to participate in VHSL tournaments or compete for the state title due to the de facto public/private school split. Since at least 2007 the consensus best overall team in Virginia has always been a public school (Thomas Jefferson, Cave Spring, Maggie Walker, or Western Albemarle) though it is possible that some of the private schools could have contended for titles in the VHSL's multi-class system.

State Championship Results (1998-2013 Classification System)

Year Class AAA Class AA Class A
Champion Second Place Champion Second Place Champion Second Place
1998 Thomas Jefferson Lake Braddock Western Albemarle Blacksburg Radford Middlesex
1999 Thomas Jefferson Maggie Walker Blacksburg Poquoson Radford West Point
2000 Maggie Walker Thomas Jefferson Charlottesville Graham Buffalo Gap Middlesex
2001 Thomas Jefferson Maggie Walker Poquoson Heritage Radford Randolph-Henry
2002 Thomas Jefferson Albemarle Staunton Blacksburg Meridian Buffalo Gap
2003 Maggie Walker Thomas Jefferson Salem Spotswood Meridian Middlesex
2004 Thomas Jefferson Maggie Walker Staunton Loudoun County Eastern Montgomery Meridian
2005 Thomas Jefferson Maggie Walker Charlottesville Spotswood James Monroe Eastern Montgomery
2006 Thomas Jefferson Ocean Lakes Charlottesville Blacksburg Radford Meridian
2007 Maggie Walker Thomas Jefferson Charlottesville Heritage Meridian Radford
2008 Thomas Jefferson Maggie Walker Charlottesville Cave Spring Radford West Point
2009 Thomas Jefferson Maggie Walker James Monroe Heritage Rappahannock Co. Meridian
2010 Maggie Walker Thomas Jefferson Blacksburg New Kent Meridian Honaker
2011 Maggie Walker Thomas Jefferson Christiansburg Western Albemarle Meridian Nandua
2012 Thomas Jefferson Maggie Walker Cave Spring Christiansburg Meridian Honaker
2013 Thomas Jefferson Maggie Walker New Kent Western Albemarle Meridian Honaker

Notes on names:

  • T. C. Williams changed its name to Alexandria City High School in 2021.
  • Prior to 2002, the school that is now Maggie Walker participated in VHSL sports and activities on a combined team with Thomas Jefferson High School in Richmond; to avoid confusion with the Thomas Jefferson in Alexandria which appears several times in the above table, the Maggie Walker name is intentionally being used here anachronistically.
  • Robert E. Lee changed its name to Staunton High School in 2020.
  • George Mason changed its name to Meridian High School in 2021.
  • Stonewall Jackson changed its name to Unity Reed High School in 2020.

State Championship Results (2014-present Classification System)

Note: Classes were renamed in 2018; "Class 6A" became "Class 6," etc. Other than normal year-to-year realignment based on school size fluctuations, the only other change to the structure of the postseason series occurred at the lower levels. Since the state championship tournament format and class structure did not change, results from before and after 2018 are combined in one table.

Year Class 6 Class 5 Class 4 Class 3 Class 2 Class 1
Champion Runner-up Champion Runner-up Champion Runner-up Champion Runner-up Champion Runner-up Champion Runner-up
2014 Langley Unity Reed Albemarle Thomas Jefferson Loudoun County Woodgrove Western Albemarle Blacksburg Maggie Walker Meridian Honaker Mathews
2015 Langley Western Branch Albemarle Thomas Jefferson Woodgrove Loudoun County Western Albemarle Cave Spring Maggie Walker Meridian Rappahannock Co. Radford
2016 Langley W.T. Woodson Thomas Jefferson Princess Anne Fauquier Sherando Cave Spring Culpeper County Central-Wise Maggie Walker Honaker Riverheads
2017 Robinson McLean Thomas Jefferson Princess Anne Loudoun County Sherando Cave Spring Blacksburg Maggie Walker Central-Wise Honaker Galileo Magnet
2018 Robinson McLean Thomas Jefferson Princess Anne Jamestown Jefferson Forest Cave Spring Western Albemarle Maggie Walker Central-Wise Galileo Magnet Honaker
2019 Alexandria City Robinson Thomas Jefferson Douglas Freeman Jamestown Woodgrove Rockbridge County Cave Spring Maggie Walker Clarke County Honaker George Wythe
2020 McLean Robinson Thomas Jefferson Princess Anne Jamestown Blacksburg Fort Defiance Maggie Walker Clarke County Gate City George Wythe Rappahannock Co.
2021 Robinson John Champe Thomas Jefferson Harrisonburg Grafton Jefferson Forest Maggie Walker Fort Defiance Gate City Radford George Wythe Galileo Magnet
2022 Thomas Jefferson McLean Douglas Freeman Princess Anne Lightridge Jamestown Rockbridge County Hidden Valley Radford Buckingham County George Wythe Galileo Magnet
2023 Thomas Jefferson McLean Princess Anne Albemarle Lightridge Great Bridge Maggie Walker Fort Defiance Buckingham County Richlands George Wythe Galileo Magnet
2024 McLean Thomas Jefferson Ocean Lakes Lightridge Blacksburg John Champe Maggie Walker Rockbridge Ridgeview Poquoson John I. Burton George Wythe

External Links
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