“Richard Roundtree played this private dick who’s a sex machine to all the chicks,” the judge said.
The question hung in the air for a moment as senior Adam Kuester hurriedly scribbled his response on his paper. He then held it out to academic team captain senior Nick Henninger to answer. Henninger, senior Ana Beain, and junior Brianna Glase took one look at the answer, pushed it back to Kuester, and told him to answer it.
“Shaft,” Kuester said sheepishly.
After getting the question right, the academic team went on to come in second to Calvert Hall in the Catholic League championship round on April 24. They went into the championship with a record of eight wins and one loss throughout the season. They beat Mt. de Sales 39-18 to get to the championships, but lost to Calvert Hall by two points, 34-32.
The topics in the championships ranged from presidents to hobbits, and JC had impressive moments of initiative. When asked what the waxy outer part of the leaf was, the judge said that there were three choices. However, before the choices could be given, Glase rang in with the correct answer: cuticle.
Kuester also took initiative when he answered a question about Muhammad’s journey from Mecca to Medina. His answer, Hijrah, didn’t match up with the answer given on the judges’ papers, Hegira. However, Kuester contested the question and, after further research, was found to be correct.
The academic team also reached the top nine for It’s Academic, on which they came in second to Catonsville on Saturday, April 21. Catonsville gained an early yet impressive lead during the first round, in which they answered six questions right to JC’s one. They never gave up their lead, although in the last two rounds JC put up a fight, making up much of their lost ground by scoring 270 points. In the end, however, Catonsville came out on top with 570 points, JC followed with 480 points, and Century came in last with 330 points.
The academic team’s season has to come to its close, but their episode of It’s Academic will be aired on June 6.
According to moderator Bob Schick, the previous academic teams have never done better. “Based on what [former academic team moderators] Ms. Reyerson and Ms. Baker have told me, we’re tied for as well as JC has ever done [on It’s Academic and in the Catholic League],” Schick said.
“I don’t think I would have done anything differently. John Carroll has had one of its best academic team seasons ever, tying or breaking all previous records for both Catholic League and It’s Academic,” Beain said.
Glase joined partway through her junior year and will be on the team next year as a senior. “I’ve learned a lot from academic team, and waiting for practice after school was what got me through many tedious days of school. I only wish I would’ve gotten to be a part of the team sooner,” Glase said.
Because many of the members of academic team are seniors, Schick is looking to recruit freshmen, sophomores, and juniors for next year. “It’s a fun team, we’re good at what we do, and it looks great on college resumes. If you want to join, see me,” Schick said.
“Next year’s team is going to have some big shoes to fill when Ana, Adam, and Nick leave, but I would say that anyone who even thinks they might enjoy academic team a little bit should join, because they won’t regret it,” Glase said.
Martha Schick is a Managing Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.