Clinton High Team Wins Mississippi Academic Competition

Clinton High team

Questions on the Bible, U.S. cities, historical tidbits, famous authors and much more were on the table as a Clinton High team rolled to victory Tuesday.

When all was said and done, Clinton’s squad outsmarted St. Joseph Catholic High of Madison in a televised quiz bowl event at Mississippi College.

The final tally at the 29^th Mississippi Academic Competition was 370 points for Clinton to a 230 score for a solid St. Joseph team. More than 40 schools from across the Magnolia State participated, including teams from Bruce, Gulfport, Blue Mountain and the metro Jackson area.

“I’m very proud of them. These are great kids to work with,” said Clinton High English teacher Nancy Dent, one of the team’s co-sponsors.

Also delighted with the Arrows’ triumph was Clinton High Latin teacher Jim Barfield. He began his association with the Mississippi College event as a co-sponsor and coach when he worked as a Murrah High teacher in 1984.

The Clinton Arrows team met every day, quizzed one another, and studied subjects ranging from sports to current events, from geography to mathematics.

Morgan Philley, a Clinton High senior, says “brain freeze” happens occasionally. But it didn’t occur for the home team under the bright lights in a TV studio in MC’s Leland Speed Library, Philley noted. Moderator Melinda Gann, an MC math professor, tossed out dozens of questions during the finals.

“We usually know a fair bit of them (the questions). There was nothing outlandish,” says Philley, who plans to be a freshman at the University of Mississippi next fall.

Timmy Lewis, a senior on the Clinton team planning to enroll at Mississippi State University, said each member focused on a specific subject. He brushed up on sports and history, and a few random topics in recent weeks.

Others on the winning Clinton team were Andrew Weiss, Matt Tucker, Gurjit Kaur, and Sajal Tiwary.

Members of the 2^nd place St. Joseph Catholic School team were John Caruey, Scott Montgomery, Sean Himel and Andrew Lobell, all of Madison, and Riley Collins and Gene Loper, both of Ridgeland.

MC Graduate School Dean Debbie Norris presented the award to the No. 1 Clinton Arrows team. The MC Office of Continuing Education sponsored the competition that attracted 43 teams statewide.

Clinton High usually brings a pretty strong team to Mississippi College every year, said Judith Halbert, the continuing education secretary.

In February 2010, Gulfport High edged Clinton High to take first place at the MC library.