It’s down to three teams in the nation’s oldest continous academic quiz competition’s 71st Season!
Radnor High School earned a trip to the 71st Delco Hi-Q Championship on Tuesday, February 18th with a semi-final win over host team Penncrest and two time-defending Champions,
Haverford High School. It was a close contest from start to finish with teams many times separated by only 1 point. Haverford moved ahead late in the first half with 20 points compared to Radnor’s 16 and Penncrest’s 13 points. The defending champs’ lead slipped later in the contest when they missed the World History question. That left Penncrest with 30 and Radnor with 31 points at the conclusion. Penncrest and Radnor appealed a question with Penncrest hoping to gain enough points to overtake their competitors. In the end, the home team lost the appeal and Radnor gained 4 extra points on their challenge. Final Scores: Penncrest, 28; Radnor, 35; Haverford 27.
Garnet Valley held the lead throughout their thrilling weather delayed home semi-final contest on Friday. They came into the round holding second place in the regular season against sixth place Marple Newtown and seventh place Strath Haven. The home team had a seven point lead at the half but started to see the point gap shrink after intermission. Marple Newtown caught up and tied the contest with only two categories left. It was 45-45 when Marple gained a bonus point on Strath Haven’s missed question to take a one point lead with one four point question left. Marple quickly buzzed in first on the Math toss-up but missed, Strath Haven followed but was also incorrect. Garnet Valley was left with 52 seconds to successfully answer the Math question to gain 4 points and a trip to the Championship contest. Final Scores: Garnet Valley, 49; Marple Newtown, 46; Strath Haven, 31.
Radnor and Garnet Valley will travel to Delaware County Christian School in Newtown Square to compete for cash prizes, donated by Franklin Mint Federal Credit Union, and the Donna Zerby trophy in the 71st Championship contest on March 6th at 10:45 am. The team that takes the title will then move onto the national Hi-Q Championship, April 5, where they’ll compete against three regional Hi-Q champs from other states via videoconference.
Delaware County Christian School joined the competition in 1993, replacing St. James High School, and is making their second consecutive and fifth overall championship appearance. The school won third place in 1995, 2006, 2012, and 2018. DC placed first in the regular season which earned them the opportunity to host the Championship. Team coach Thom Houghton is a twenty year faculty advisor.
Back (L to R): Faculty Advisor, Thom Houghton, Aj Gerow, Ethan Cai, Yide Cai, Sam Master
Front (L to R): Rachel Yeung, Hannah Master, Peter Yeung, Yewan Jeong, Hannah Gifford
Absent from Photo: Caleb Chung
Radnor High School holds one of the longest Championship
records in Delco Hi-Q history. This will be their twenty-seventh overall Championship appearance. The school has earned eleven titles since 1965 with the last coming in the 1998 season. Faculty Advisor Robert Spear has coached the team for seven years.
Garnet Valley also has a long history of successful Delco Hi-Q seasons. The school has earned four titles since 2011, for a total of eight since their first win in 1978 and placed second last season. This is the school’s sixth consecutive Championship appearance and twenty-fourth overall since 1977. Faculty Advisor Lesley Arensberg has been coaching the team for thirteen years and fellow advisor Sandra Dubnansky is in her eighth year.
Delco Hi-Q is a partnership between Delaware County Intermediate Unit (DCIU) and FMFCU Foundation. FMFCU Vice President Rick Durante serves as Executive Director and Quizmaster, FMFCU Foundation CSR Specialist Danielle Griffin is Hi-Q Coordinator, and DCIU’s Dave Bramble is the production engineer. In addition to support from participating schools, Franklin Mint Federal Credit Union and the Wilbur C. and Betty Lea Henderson Foundation are the primary corporate sponsors. Additional support comes from longtime sponsor Kimberly-Clark Corporation and the Delaware County Daily Times.
