LHS Varsity Quiz Bowl team heading to state finals

LHS Varsity Quiz Bowl Team. Photo by Jen Segraves Photography.

LHS Varsity Quiz Bowl team heading to state finals

LHS News is a presentation of Ludington High School in partnership with Mason County Press. 

By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief

LUDINGTON — The Ludington High School Varsity Quiz Bowl team is preparing for the state final, which will be held on Saturday, April 15 at Michigan State University. The varsity team ranked fourth in the season in the West Michigan Conference Lakes Division and first place in post season competition, making it eligible for state finals. 

Quiz bowl is a game in which two teams of four players each compete head-to-head to answer questions from all areas of knowledge, including history, literature, science, fine arts, current events, popular culture, sports, and more. 

LHS JV-A Team. Photo by Jen Segraves Photography.

“This has been a great season, especially since we have been able to compete in person for the first time since 2019 and also since the re-organization of the West Michigan Conference that now includes non-athletic activities,” said Varsity Coach Amber Nasson. “The varsity team has been active since September and the team members are excited to head to state.” 

The Lakes Division of the West Michigan Conference consists of Ludington, Manistee, Montague, Whitehall, Orchard View, Fremont and Oakridge, but Oakridge didn’t seat a team this year. Spring Lake and Fruitport quiz bowl teams also compete in the division, though the schools are not part of the conference. The Rivers Division consists of Mason County Central, Holton, Hart, Shelby, Hesperia, Ravenna, and North Muskegon (Hesperia did not have quiz bowl teams). Mason County Eastern quiz bowl team also competes in the division as a non-conference team. 

Manistee High School won first place in the Lakes Division this year while Hart High School won first place in the Rivers Division.

LHS also has two junior varsity quiz bowl teams, JV-A and JV-B (freshman team). JV-A, coached by Dena Thibault, ranked second place in the league and was first place in post season competition. JV-B, coached by Todd Schipper, tied for fourth place in the league and was second place in post season competition. 

Conference competitions take place from January to March, but the LHS varsity team also competes in the Central Michigan University Quiz Bowl Central competition in the fall. 

LHS JV-B Team. Photo by Jen Segraves Photography.

LHS is one of 16 class B schools that will participate in the state finals. Competition runs from 9 a.m. until at least 5 p.m. in a round-robin format. 

The varsity team includes: Seniors Nathan Biggs, Jay Bledsoe, Alba Fernandez, Sophia Grierson, Malakai Honyoust, Dominic VanWyk, Kat Wang, Aubrey Young and Adam Keffer; juniors: Jack Jubar and Raiden Wolf. 

The JV-A team includes sophomores: Maggie Autrey, Grayson Bentz, Andrea Blaninship, Ben Coleman, Gabe Hill, Ally Kalchik, Adam Knee, Quinn Merchant, Jackson Schipper, and Nick Wysong. 

The JV-B team includes freshmen: Luciana Bailey, Walt Autrey, Rowan Duffield, Jyeva Goehmann, Katie Gronstal, Amelia Hatch, Joseph Kline, Savanna Newkirk, Jasper Sak, Greg Schrader, and Miles Smith. 

Please consider helping to fund local news. Mason County Press and Oceana County Press are available for free thanks to the generous support of our advertisers and individuals. Three ways to help us: Venmo: @MasonCountyPress; Paypal: MasonCountyPress@gmail.com; Mail a check to PO BOX 21, Scottville, MI 49454. 

fb.com/stars

This story is copyrighted © 2023, all rights reserved by Media Group 31, LLC, PO Box 21, Scottville, MI 49454. No portion of this story or images may be reproduced in any way, including print or broadcast, without expressed written consent.

As the services of Media Group 31, LLC are news services, the information posted within the sites are archivable for public record and historical posterity. For this reason it is the policy and practice of this company to not delete postings. It is the editor’s discretion to update or edit a story when/if new information becomes available. This may be done by editing the posted story or posting a new “follow-up” story. Media Group 31, LLC or any of its agents have the right to make any changes to this policy. Refer to Use Policy for more information.