Lebanon Valley Tournament
A high school tournament hosted annually in late spring from 1981 to 2000 by Lebanon Valley College of Annville, Pennsylvania.
Written and staffed by the college faculty, the tournament featured 20-minute timed rounds of tossup-bonus format in the playoffs. The prelims seem to have been determined by a test with up to 500 questions worth different points values based on difficulty that eliminated teams after each round and determined who made the playoffs. The semifinals were lengthened to 25 minutes at some point, and the finals to 30. Both featured additional audio tossups, primarily foreign languages.
The tournament's demise has been attributed to the inability to find sufficient volunteer staff. At some point, the local Congressman moderated the finals. At its height, 72 teams from across Pennsylvania competed.
Distribution
SOCIAL SCIENCE 6
US history 2
European history, non-western history, geography 2
economics, business, psychology, sociology 1
politics, government, current events 1
HUMANITIES 6
American literature 2
world literature, language, grammar, 2
art, music, foreign culture, philosophy, religion 1
NATURAL SCIENCE AND MATH 6
biology 1-2
chemistry 1-2
physics, geology, astronomy 1-2
math (including arithmetic, geometry, algebra, calculus, trigonometry, computer science) 1-2
MISCELLANEOUS 2
"not specifically subdivided, but we try not to include two questions from the same subcategory in the same round."
popular music, sports, television, movies, agriculture, home economics, Pennsylvania, weights and measures, pop culture
Sources
Winners
| Year | Champion | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Carlisle | |
| 1982 | Carlisle | |
| 1983 | Cedar Cliff | |
| 1984 | Cedar Cliff | |
| 1985 | Cedar Cliff | |
| 1986 | Cedar Crest | |
| 1987 | Cedar Crest | |
| 1988 | Cumberland Valley | |
| 1989 | Carlisle | |
| 1990 | Mechanicsburg | |
| 1991 | Susquehanna Township | |
| 1992 | Manheim Township | |
| 1993 | Manheim Township | |
| 1994 | Harrisburg Academy | Manheim Township |
| 1995 | Manheim Township | Cumberland Valley |
| 1996 | Manheim Township | Hershey |
| 1997 | Manheim Township | West Chester East |
| 1998 | Manheim Township | State College |
| 1999 | Lancaster Mennonite | Blue Mountain |
| 2000 | Lancaster Catholic | Manheim Township |