St. Margaret's
The St. Margaret's quizbowl and history bowl teams (also listed as "St. Margaret's Episcopal" in rankings & standings) have represented the Tartans of St. Margaret's Episcopal School in San Juan Capistrano, CA since the beginning of the 2018-19 competition season. Both the SMES history & quizbowl programs were established in 2018 by history specialist Nate Kang (Class of 2022), a seasoned veteran of NHBB and four-time national semifinalist in the bee, in his first year at the school.
Though the schools themselves are not really rivals anywhere else, when it comes to quizbowl and history competitions, the Tartans maintain a friendly rivalry with Arcadia. In all, the two schools have met 9 times (including Arcadia's A, C, D, and E teams) over the course of 4 different competitions since the inception of the program at SMES.
Accolades, Trophies, & Titles Won
In February 2019, at Canyon Crest Academy in San Diego, St. Margaret's took home its first official hardware, winning its first-ever history bowl regional championship in the JV division. SMES defeated Arcadia C by 70 in the final to hoist the trophy. (The round was moderated by tournament director Noah Prince.) Freshman Nate Kang played solo in the bowl at this tournament and also won the regional championship in the bee on the same day.
In March 2019, the Tartans won the ReKT II quizbowl tournament, hosted by Westview High, in the JV division. Nate Kang led all players with 123.64 ppg across all stages of the competition.
In April 2019, Kang soloed St. Margaret's junior varsity team to a 19th place finish nationwide at the 2019 National History Bowl national championships in Arlington, VA.
Current roster
J.V.
- Nate Kang (captain)
- Nirmay Nanjappa
- Hunter Smith
Varsity
- Lauren Spalding (captain)
- Ian Schulze
- Nihar Nanjappa
- Matthew Rosenthal
Coach: vacant [History bowl: Simon Fellowes (de facto); general quizbowl: Jeff Jablonski (de facto)]