St. Croix Educational Complex showed its championship pedigree Sunday, sweeping through to the 2010 Science Bowl finals, then beating out Country Day to take home its fourth straight title. (To see a video of the competition, click here.)
The competition played out in nine rounds, with the first seven hosted at the Wyndham Sugar Bay Resort on St. Thomas. After an afternoon filled with grueling biology, chemistry, physics and astronomy questions, Country Day’s A team along with Complex’s A and B teams emerged for the semi-finals, knocking out the teams from Charlotte Amalie High School and Ivanna Eudora Kean High School, the Gifft Hill School on St. John, St. Croix’s Central High School, the Good Hope School and the St. Croix Seventh Day Adventist School.
Complex was one of three schools to put two teams in the competition, and its B team fell into third place after losing to Country Day’s A Team in the semi-finals, held in the Bertha C. Boschulte Middle School auditorium on Sunday evening. Country Day racked up the points in the first half of the eighth round, finishing up 40-8, and sealing the deal in the second half by shutting out Complex 62-30.
Science Bowl organizer Gerald Walters said most schools put in a B team to give their younger students a taste of the competition.
"But in this case, they are obviously still very powerful," he said.
Keeping up the momentum, Country Day moved into the finals against the Complex A team and kept the score close for the first half, then pulled ahead around the two-minute mark after the tag team of captain Blare Coughlin and J’Nee John showed off their chemistry and math skills. John answered a 10-point bonus question in the last 38 seconds of the round, putting Country Day ahead 42-32.
The competition appeared all but over, but to the audience’s surprise, Walters announced that the two teams would have to face each other once again, since both only had one loss. After a two minute break, they settled back into their seats and sounded off on the buzzers.
This time around, the Complex students showed what they were made of. Within the first two minutes, the team was up 0-18 with correct answers on a biology question and a chemistry bonus question. The shut out continued until about four minutes into the first half. The only shake up came when the judges challenged an answer given by Complex captain Elizabeth Tobierre on an earth science question about the ice age — they said someone in the audience blurted out the answer but Tobierre quickly responded by reciting the rules of the competition and winning the judges over.
Country Day got one under the three-minute mark, but the next couple of questions saw no play until John came in with a few seconds left on a bonus question and got Country Day out of the first half 18-30.
Country Day came close to tying the score in the final half with bonus points but Complex’s Claudine Lacdao pulled out an astronomy card, which was followed by another 10-point bonus to give Complex a 32-48 lead. Chemistry seemed to be Tobierre’s forte, while Mendrell Symphorien, Lacdao and Matthias Clarke took on the physics, earth science and math questions.
Country Day pulled in 18 more points, including answering a 10-point bonus question in the last few seconds about the most widely used calendar on earth, but Complex still finished out with 66 points, giving the school its fourth straight victory.
As soon as the buzzer sounded, the team jumped up and screamed.
"We would not give up," Tobierre said. "We were determined to win. And that is what happened. We did not stop."
Team members said they practiced three or four times a week for hours at a time and got tons of support from their parents, faculty and friends.
"We would go over the questions, rehearse, go over the rules and everything so we would be prepared," said Complex senior Shelsa Marcel.
The team’s coaches said the win was "extra special" because both of their teams scored in the top three.
"We are very grateful for all the help we got, with everybody, all the educators and staff putting in so much time," said coach Joann Lewis. "The parents allowed the kids to practice for so long, so many hours, and we appreciate that support.
"I think we’re the first public school to win four years back to back," said assistant coach Dynell Williams, who has been with the team for the entire four years.
Complex will compete in the National Science Bowl that will be held in Chevy Chase, Maryland April 29 through May 4.
The territorial competition was sponsored by the Virgin Islands Department of Education and the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority.
