St. Louis Park
| St. Louis Park | |
| |
|---|---|
| Location: St. Louis Park, MN | |
| Coaches | Peter Dangerfield (2015-2022) |
| Program Status | Inactive |
| School Size | 1,500 |
| NAQT Page | link |
St. Louis Park High School is a public high school in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. The school's quiz bowl club was a mainstay in MNHSQBL and other NAQT-style tournaments in the Twin Cities metro area until it dissolved after the 2022-23 season as it was unable to find an advisor.
Recent History
St. Louis Park appears in results as early as 2002, where they were the runner-up in that year's MNHSQBL, though the club had likely existed for several years prior to that. SLP regularly sent at least three teams to tournaments at the beginning of MNHSQBL's NAQT era, with their A team placing as high as fourth in 2010 and third in 2009. The school's club had an increase in membership around 2015, when Peter Dangerfield became coach. Every year between 2015 and 2019 SLP qualified for and sent at least one team to HSNCT, peaking in numbers and placement in 2019, where they sent 3 teams and St. Louis Park A placed 73rd, the school's highest placement at the tournament. 2019 also saw St. Louis Park player Quinn Whitlow place 33rd in the high school division of that year's IPNCT.
Around this time St. Louis Park took over hosting duties of the Metro West Conference Quiz Bowl Championship from Chaska, and was able to field seven teams in their inaugural year of hosting. The tournament did not survive past the COVID-19 era however, and has not been held since.
The club's membership took a hit after the 2018-19 season, when a vast majority of its members graduated. The team again qualified for the 2020 HSNCT despite its diminished size, though it was canceled due to COVID-19. During the COVID era the team did not participate in any online tournaments, only returning to tournament play in the 2021-22 season. In 2022 they achieved the club's highest ever placement in the NAQT-era MNHSQBL, placing second after losing to Wayzata in the finals. 2022 was also the most recent year that SLP qualified for HSNCT, where they placed 121st and senior Truman Fillbrandt placed 41st individually.
The club struggled with coach turnover in the 2022-23 season, with Coach Dangerfield stepping back from the role. A replacement advisor was found for the year, and SLP continued to place relatively highly in tournaments, placing 9th in both that year's Run for the Roses as well as the region's high school mirror of ACRONYM 16.
After the 2022-23 season, the team's advisor was let go and the team was forced to begin a new search. Ultimately, due to the team's additional struggles with members graduating and few new people joining, the SLP club became inactive and since then the school has not had a quiz bowl club.
Past Club Leaders
- Peter Dangerfield (Coach, 2015-2022)
- Julia Lorenzen (Captain, 2022-23)
- Silas Cowell (Captain, 2022-23
- Jacy Demcisak (Captain, 2021-22)
- Truman Fillbrandt (Captain, 2021-22)
- Kaylee Quick (Captain, 2019-21)
- Cailey Hansen-Mahoney (Captain, 2018-19)
- Danny Hunegs (Captain, 2018-19)