Streator
| Streator Bulldogs | |
| |
|---|---|
| Location: Streator, Illinois | |
| Coaches | John Burke |
| Program Status | Unknown |
| School Size | Unknown |
| NAQT Page | link |
Streator High School is a public high school in Streator, Illinois, between Chicago and Peoria. It competes in Class AA, the "large school" division, of the Illinois High School Association's (IHSA) State Championship Series.
The team was one of the most active teams in Illinois during the 1980s under the leadership of Jerry Vandemark, who is a member of the IHSSBCA Hall of Fame, driving to pretty much every tournament that existed during that time.
Streator became one of the strongest teams in Illinois during the late 1990s, placing in the top four in the IHSA State Tournament in 1998, 1999, and 2000. The team also participated in tournaments in the Chicagoland Area and at Decatur MacArthur, exposing itself to the best questions and toughest competition available at the time. In 1999, they lost in the IHSA State Semifinal to Decatur MacArthur when the last tossup was a repeat of a question from the year before and the last bonus, which MacArthur needed to sweep, involved finding areas of rectangles given their bases and heights. They lost the 2000 Final in the Masonic tournament to Stevenson on the last question as well. Their top player was Ben Ricca, who was generally considered the top player in Illinois during that era. He formed a question writing company called Illinois Questions along with Tim Holbrook of University (Normal) and David Shalowitz of New Trier that lasted a few years after the three of them played together on Team Illinois at PAC.
The team is currently coached by John Burke and is active. In 2010-11, they placed in the top four at Orion Varsity, the Centennial IHSSBCA Kickoff, the Centennial IHSSBCA Turnabout, Sterling Frosh/Soph, Streator Rotary, Orion Frosh/Soph, and they won their IHSA Regional. Coach Burke is an outspoken supporter of IHSA format, contradicting the general trend in high school quizbowl. Burke won IHSA State Championships at his previous schools, St. Teresa and Warrensburg-Latham, and he is a member of the IHSSBCA Hall of Fame.