Arlington bests Murphy and Monroe in scholastic competition

EVERETT — It was brains, not brawn, that scored students from Arlington a state trophy here Tuesday.

Competitors at the Hi-Q championship showed off their smarts during the quiz contest at Archbishop Murphy High School. Spectators packed the gym, cheering, clapping and laughing as contestants tried to answer challenging and often obscure questions.

The Archbishop Wildcats defended a three-year title run against the Arlington Eagles and the Monroe Bearcats — the same teams that Murphy defeated in the 2014 championship.

“It’s like that baseball saying, ‘It’s deja vu all over again,’ ” Hi-Q coordinator David Korkowski said.

But this time Arlington was victorious after the close, 42-question match.

“It was a nail-biter,” Korkowski said.

Competitors had 15 seconds ticking on a large, red-lighted clock and four chances to answer correctly before the other teams could buzz in with their responses.

The teammates exchanged high-fives for correctly answering tough questions. When they were perplexed, they offered random guesses.

The moderator, Jill Siano, read the questions with an appropriately erudite air, sipping from an old-fashioned china teacup between queries.

“We need more competitions that give praise to education,” said Siano, a retired Monroe teacher. “These kids work very, very hard.”

Students came prepared to answer questions in 13 subjects, including literature, sports, history, current events, government, Shakespeare, geometry and physics. They study on their own and practice as a team for months to prepare.

The teams at Tuesday’s contest bested seven others in three regular season matches and survived the semi-finals to make it to the championship. Scholars with expertise in the subjects write the questions.

Arlington will represent Washington in the national championship online April 16. Students in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Alabama also compete in Hi-Q.

Hi-Q is the nation’s oldest continuous quiz contest for high school students. The Scott Paper Co. started it in Pennsylvania in 1948. Arlington won when the company first sponsored a competition in Everett in 1976. Many groups kicked in money to keep Hi-Q going over the years.

After Everett Community College announced it was ending sponsorship of the program in 2012, Monroe students fought for it. The college eventually donated the contest equipment to the Monroe School District, which now helps cover the cost.

Cassandra Engvall, a senior from Monroe, was among students who fought to save Hi-Q because it was important to them.

“I don’t think it’s sunk in that it’s over yet,” she said after her last competition Tuesday.

In keeping with tradition, Engvall and other Monroe students brought “Star Wars” bobbleheads to the competition for luck.

Their counterparts from Arlington don’t do anything special or superstitious, junior Hannah Martian said. In fact, she said, the team believes that relying on luck charms could work against them.

“We just come prepared,” said Hannah, a two-year Hi-Q veteran. “Everybody works really hard.”

Arlington parent Kristi Neeleman surprised her daughter, Felix, by wearing a shirt to the contest that read: “Keep calm I’m a Hi-Q mom.”

Felix, a senior, said she appreciated the encouragement. She looked forward to recognition by peers at Arlington High when the team brought home the trophy.

“It’s definitely not as widely followed as sports, but people definitely know we’re here,” she said.

Jane Joselow and Ben Mendro have been coaching Arlington’s Hi-Q team for the past 24 years. Joselow, a retired teacher, said she was “hungry for the win” Tuesday because this season will be her last.

“I’m floating on air,” she said. “I wanted so badly to see what nationals were like.”

Amy Nile: 425-339-3192; anile@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @AmyNileReports.

Sample Hi-Q questions

1. Both Ireland and Scotland have embraced high-technology fields as a means to improving their economies. What is the nickname given to the area between Glasgow and Edinburgh in Scotland because of its California-like concentration of computer technology?

2. Logging destroyed much of a temperate rainforest biome that once stretched from Alaska to northern California. An important section of it was saved in 1994 when a timber company surrendered its logging rights. What is the name of the valley in British Columbia that was preserved?

3. A fire in 1723 seriously damaged one of two paintings by Rembrandt of an autopsy performed by a doctor surrounded by an audience. What is the last name of the doctor whose “Anatomy Lesson” was partially burned?

4. Modern chemistry uses carbon-12 as the basis for establishing atomic weights of elements. When pioneering chemist John Dalton did the first work to establish atomic weights of elements, what element did he use as his basis?

5. The Constitution requires that the president be “a natural born citizen.” The early presidents, however, were born as citizens of Great Britain. Name the president who was the first to be born as a citizen of the United States of America.

Answers

1. Silicon Glen

2. Kitlope Valley

3. Dr. Deyman

4. Hydrogen

5. Martin Van Buren

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Everett mall renderings from Brixton Capital. (Photo provided by the City of Everett)
Topgolf at the Everett Mall? Mayor’s hint still unconfirmed

After Cassie Franklin’s annual address, rumors circled about what “top” entertainment tenant could be landing at Everett Mall.

Everett
Everett man sentenced to 3 years of probation for mutilating animals

In 2022, neighbors reported Blayne Perez, 35, was shooting and torturing wildlife in north Everett.

The Washington State University Snohomish County Extension building at McCollum Park is located in an area Snohomish County is considering for the location of the Farm and Food Center on Thursday, March 28, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Year-round indoor farmers market inches closer to reality near Mill Creek

The Snohomish County Farm and Food Center received $5 million in federal funding. The county hopes to begin building in 2026.

Dorothy Crossman rides up on her bike to turn in her ballot  on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett leaders plan to ask voters for property tax increase

City officials will spend weeks hammering out details of a ballot measure, as Everett faces a $12.6 million deficit.

Starbucks employee Zach Gabelein outside of the Mill Creek location where he works on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 in Mill Creek, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Mill Creek Starbucks votes 21-1 to form union

“We obviously are kind of on the high of that win,” store bargaining delegate Zach Gabelein said.

Lynnwood police respond to a collision on highway 99 at 176 street SW. (Photo provided by Lynnwood Police)
Police: Teen in stolen car flees cops, causes crash in Lynnwood

The crash blocked traffic for over an hour at 176th Street SW. The boy, 16, was arrested on felony warrants.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.