Shaker National Academic Challenge Team Finishes Strong at National Competition

June 13, 2017—Congratulations to the self-coached members of the Shaker Heights National Academic Challenge Team who competed last weekend in Chicago in the 35th Annual National Academic Championship. The Chicago event was one of three national championships held over the past two weeks.

The Shaker team was ranked 7th after the preliminary round and advanced through the first round of the High School Varsity playoffs (defeating St. Vincent-St. Mary with a score of 245-230) before a loss to the #2 ranked Henderson City (KY). Their performance was good enough to put them among the final eight teams out of a total 29 in Chicago. "It's a rarity for a team to make it to the playoffs in their first year," Chip Beall, Director of the National Academic Association, said of the Shaker students.

Team members who competed in Chicago included Joe Berusch (coach), Henry Crampton-Hays, Nat Crowley, Vivek Divakarla, Jacob Good, Kevin Jiang, Vishnu Kasturi, Sam Katz and Harry Steinberg. Congrats team!