In the eyes of most of the student body, Lincoln-Way East has three bowling teams: Girls’ Bowling, Boys’ Bowling, and Scholastic Bowl. Scholastic Bowl frequently makes the announcements for their various achievements, yet they’re something of a dark horse to most of the student body.
“Scholastic Bowl is like Jeopardy! Except I know the answers,” Senior and Team Captain Sophia Giampaolo tells me with a smile.
Scholastic Bowl, also known as Quiz Bowl or Academic Bowl, is officially defined as “… a game in which two teams compete head-to-head to answer from all areas of knowledge, including history, literature, science, fine arts, current events, popular culture, sports, and more”. Lincoln-Way East has over 50 members on its team, and each one contributes to the success that follows the team wherever they go.
During the pandemic, Scholastic Bowl faced some challenges as they transitioned from in-person tournaments and practices to the unknown online landscape. As a team ‘sport’, connecting with teammates was harder online. The format and structure of the matches was different, too. However, Scholastic Bowl made its triumphant return in the 21-22 school year and has been going strong ever since.
Captains David Scott, Caleb Lee, and Sophia Giampaolo led the team to victory in the IHSA Regionals where they took home the plaque pictured above. The Scholastic Bowl scored the most points in a single match in the history of Lincoln-Way East. Additionally, the team tied their record for most consecutive regional wins. That’s not all, though! The Scholastic Bowl team has performed extraordinarily well throughout the season. The varsity team and junior varsity team are both conference championships, beating out other high schools such as Sandburg and Homewood-Flossmoor. Before Regionals, the team competed in Masonic Sectionals, coming in at third place.
The team demonstrated their capability and skilled nature at NAQT State this past February. They placed the highest they ever had, placing 18th out of 32 of Illinois’ best teams. Sophomore Felix Sacks was named one of the Rising Stars which consisted of the top-scoring underclassmen. They went on to play in sectionals, where they faced some of their fiercest competition and once again soared to third place. They took on the Lincoln-Way Central Knights, and they won with a score of 530-240. All-Sectional players Caleb Lee and Felix Sacks led the team against HF, who eventually won, and they lost by a margin of ten points.
Last week, the team celebrated their various achievements. Felix Sacks was the fastest buzzer for varsity. Sophia Giampaolo, David Scott, and Caleb Lee were all named captains for the season. Some members of the team also received varsity letters. They celebrated their various achievements, and as one of the top 200 teams in the nation, they are ready to hopefully tackle state next year.
The team puts in an incredible amount of effort, and their camaraderie makes them unique. Their skills shine when they work together, and while they may have lost this year, it isn’t the ultimate opportunity to go to state. They still have next season, and with their incredible talent, it’s very likely that they climb to the top once more.
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