Matt Foulk calmly looks around the room. He studies the looks on his competitors faces, and wonders if he can answer the next question correctly. Filled with confidence, Foulk quickly buzzes in and prepares to give his answer. To the surprise of his Institute of Notre Dame competitors, this is his fifth correct answer in a row.

Junior Academic Team member Matt Foulk is one of the 13 members of the Academic Team who has helped the team in their success. The members of the team participate in three areas of competition, including the Catholic League, “It’s Academic,” and one-day competitions against the public schools in Harford County.

This year, the team has been most successful in the Catholic League, with a record of 5-1. Their only loss was to Loyola Blakefield, who is undefeated this season. The team is hoping for a re-match against Loyola on April 25 for championships, but first, they must beat Calvert Hall, with whom they are tied with for second place. The team’s next meet is on March 11.

According to Academic Team moderator Chris Deaver, Loyola is the team’s biggest competition because they are a very strong team. “To be able to defeat them would be a great accomplishment,” he said.

In addition to Catholic League competitions, the team also participates in the televised program, “It’s Academic.” This year, the team was not eliminated until the second round in early February. “This is the sixth or seventh year in a row that we have made it to the second round. We’ve made it halfway through,” Deaver said.

The Academic Team also competes in one-day tournaments, with the biggest competition taking place at the end of the spring when JC and Harford County public schools come together to face off. JC has won two years in a row and is hoping to defend their title for a third consecutive year.

Although the team didn’t do well in their last one-day competition this year, Deaver has high hopes for the future. “I’m hoping to achieve that high level of success,” he said.

Academic Team Captain junior Drew Forthman believes the team struggles most from a lack of confidence. “I think, probably not to say aggressiveness, but being willing to take risks because some of the members of the team are kinda cautious and don’t ring in at all,” he said.

Deaver, however, believes that the team’s biggest challenge is their loss of experienced members. “I think it is going to be a challenge for us [to win] because we had a large crop of seniors that graduated,” he said. “[We’re] only carrying four team members from last year, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the success this year.”

Forthman is overall pleased with the team’s success and thinks they have had a strong overall season thus far this year. “[I’m] proud of our success so far. We have done extremely well in the Catholic League, but I’m also proud of the other guys on the ‘It’s Academic’ show. I’m very proud of them doing well on the show,” he said.

Taylor Bynion is a Copy Editor for the Patriot and jcpatriot.com.