A Tale of Two Academic Teams

Chapter 6: Inter-team overlaps

When Sadie's back with the team, later that day, around the dinner table at another restaurant, she tells the team about what she learned from their opponents:

"DCC is one of the few schools in the country where quiz bowl actually acts as a source of players for debates! That being said, you have no right to assume that any player the math team will earmark next year will actually turn out to be a math and science specialist at all, just because Imélie was one. No more than you can assume any player the debate team will earmark three years from now to then be a history/RPMSS specialist. I met other quiz bowlers at debate tournaments and, while there isn't a whole lot of them, as quiz bowlers they're all over the place. DCC's debater is a lit player, another one I met at the Isidore Newman Invitational was a science player but does not play at the HSNCT... and these are just the ones I know. There are definitely others playing at the HSNCT that also do debate or mathletics"

"Speaking of mathletics, if Marcia's estimate is correct, in any given year about five to ten players will score a ten or higher on the AIME and play at the HSNCT" Imélie adds to the discussion about inter-team overlaps.

And I scored a 10 on the AIME myself, as did Jennifer, but I missed the USAMO by at most 4.5 points on the AMC12, thanks to my 124.5 on the AMC12, and Jennifer will go to the EGMO next year, since she was a top-4 female non-senior at the USAMO, Imélie ponders, while keeping quiet about her own mathletic performances this season.

"So there are more mathletes not scoring ten or more on the AIME playing at the HSNCT, especially since some teams use mathletics as a player source" William comments.

"Also, Beijing number two is a little weak in English-language lit as well as in US history" Sadie adds a comment about Beijing #2.

"Why Beijing number two?" Warren asks.

"Beijing number two is in playoff contention and appears on track to be a team we can potentially play in the playoffs"

------------------------

The following day, the Venomous Agendas lose to Arcadia in their eighth preliminary game, but their ninth game holds a special significance to Imélie as opposed to Sadie. TJHSST A. The Colonials' coach fixates on Imélie even though the player that caused the Colonials to lose to the Venomous Agendas last year is no longer playing. We can take them, because I'm not sure about how Sadie stacks up to Florence, but Imélie is the player that concerns me most; we played against her last year and she's good, the TJHSST coach ruminates while the game is about to start.

Last year, we were the kryptonite of virtually everyone in the DC area in mathletics and in quiz bowl, but they are strong year in, year out, Imélie thinks while her memories from her last HSNCT run resurface, and of how Florence sank the Colonials during that game.

But there is one thing these Venomous Agendas could rely on when playing TJHSST: they are in for a rough game where they need to fight tooth and nail at every step. Everyone on both sides played their best, and this time the Colonials are in the lead by five points. With one tossup to go, it's do-or-die time for the Venomous Agendas, and all four of them are shaking in their seats, focused on the tossup.

"This city was the site of a Soviet massacre perpetrated on the Polish intellectual elite in WWII. It was the first site of the Russian Black Sea Fleet shipyards"

"Mykolaiv" the TJHSST captain answers after buzzing in.

"Neg five"

If we don't answer this correctly, we will need to endure three additional tossups, and that will make me even more nervous, Sadie thinks, while the power mark is fast approaching. Meanwhile, the Colonials are hoping the Venomous Agendas get it incorrectly too.