North Kansas City
| North Kansas City Hornets | |
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|---|---|
| Location: North Kansas City, MO | |
| Coaches | Jordan Henson, Joseph Ford |
| State Championships | 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2007, 2008 MSHSAA; 2008, 2009 NAQT |
| National Championships | None |
| National Appearances | HSNCT: 1999, 2007-2014, 2016-2023 NSC: 1998, 1999, 2008, 2015 |
| Program Status | Active |
| School Size | 1247[1] |
| NAQT Page | link |
North Kansas City High School, also known as NKC or Northtown, is a suburban public school in North Kansas City. Its quizbowl team has been active since the 1980s in local, regional, and national tournaments. Under longtime coach Larry Allen, the team won the MSHSAA Class 4 State Championship six times, in 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2007, and 2008, as well as the first two NAQT Missouri Qualifiers. The team has held a number of MSHSAA records and has seen national success, finishing 6th at the 1999 PACE NSC, 5th at the 1999 NAQT HSNCT, 13th at the 2007 NAQT HSNCT, and 5th at the 2008 PACE NSC.
Randy Jackson assumed coaching duties following Allen's retirement after the 2010 season. Jackson stepped down after the 2015-2016 season and was succeeded by Pat O'Keefe, who coached the team through the 2022-23 season.
Alumni
- Forrest Walker 2013
- Selena Montes 2013
- Grant Gates 2010
- Victor Faniel 2009
- Tyler Kinshella 2009
- Brandon Roney 2009
- Derek Tran 2009
- Charlie Dees 2008
- Christine Prezwodek 2007
- Jared Goede 2006
- Jon Matthew 2002
- Andy Wehrman 1999
- Mike Wehrman 1997 - held record for the most tossups answered in the course of a MSHSAA state championship from 1997 until 2011, and was often regarded as the best player ever in Missouri for several years after his graduation.
Tournament Hosting
- Main articles: North Kansas City Varsity Invitational and North Kansas City Junior Varsity Tournament
North Kansas City has hosted many tournaments over the years in varying formats. Earlier iterations were generally hosted in a four-quarter format. The tournaments began to shift to the twenty tossup-bonus format and pyramidal questions in 2007, continuing to use single-elimination playoffs until the retirement of coach Larry Allen after the 2009-2010 season.
The 2011 iteration of the varsity tournament was the first NKC tournament to be certified by the Missouri Quizbowl Alliance. Beginning in the 2011-2012 season, North Kansas City has scheduled its Junior Varsity tournament each fall and a Varsity tournament each spring, both using pyramidal sets and pooled preliminary and playoff/consolation rounds, making North Kansas City the first host in the Kansas City area to consistently offer 7-9 rounds to all teams using good questions and a fair schedule.
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- ↑ 2023-24 MSHSAA enrollment (grades 9-11 in March 2023), from https://www.mshsaa.org/Activities/SchoolEnrollments.aspx