(Provided photo)
Scholastic Bowl coaches from around Illinois voted Homewood-Flossmoor High School junior Michael Gislason to the All-State competitors team.
Of 48 top students nominated, only 20 are named to the all-state team at the Illinois High School Association’s Scholastic Bowl tournament. The top 10 were named to the first-team all-state, and those ranked 11-20, as Gislason was, were named to the second-team all-state at the annual competition March 20-21 in Peoria.
Scholastic Bowl puts students in competition by being the first to sound the buzzer before an opponent for a chance to answer questions delivered in rapid-fire sequence. Questions are in math, science, social studies, English literature/mythology, arts and music and miscellaneous topics.
Gislason is the third H-F student to win this honor in the 14 years Scholastic Bowl coaches have been selecting the top students. Previous winners were Joe Houlihan and Parag Bhayani, according to H-F Scholastic Bowl coach and teacher Michael Sacks.
“Michael is an incredible player with his depth of knowledge in history, literature, art history and opera, but what sets him apart is his ability to remember the answers to questions he’s heard months ago in subjects he’s not as strong at,” said Sacks.
“He’s also exceptional for being such a top player and rarely answering a question wrong, as many top players tend to try to answer questions very early and make mistakes,” Sacks added. “His judiciousness on being aggressive and answering questions in subjects that he knows well, and being patient on questions in subjects that he doesn’t know as well, makes him a little unique amongst the All-State players.”
Although the H-F Varsity Scholastic Bowl team came up short at the state tournament, Gislason’s selection to the all-stateteam was the culmination of an outstanding year. The H-F team completed the first undefeated season in Southwest Suburban Conference history, sweeping every team in the regular season by going 15-0, and winning all four matches at the conference championship to win the tournament.
H-F went on to win in regional and sectionals competition to advance to state competition in Peoria.
Team members are Gislason, Lily Hamer, Jacob Fontana, Ethan Bosch, Peter Cipriano, Caleb D’Amico, Lauren Torian, Caitlin Lamb, Malina Worldlaw, Michael Bonthron and Nathaniel Bouchie.
Related story:
H-F Scholastic Bowl team on to state championship (HF Chronicle, March 16, 2015)
Contact Marilyn Thomas at [email protected]