By Mike Maltais
The Liberty Bell High School Knowledge Bowl Team took ninth place and finished in the middle of the pack of 18 2B teams that competed in the state championships at Arlington High School last Saturday (March 22).
The Mountain Lions qualified for the state tournament on the strength of their second consecutive North Central Washington1B/2B regional championship won earlier in Chelan.
Competing for Liberty Bell were captain Kathleen Chavey-Reynaud, Willie Duguay, Corey Diamond, Patti Watson, Rowan Post and Riley Calvert. Watson, Post and Calvert took turns rotating in and out of the team’s fourth spot through the day, said coach Leverett Hubbard.
Following the opening written round of competition in Arlington, Liberty Bell emerged with 38 points and a second-place tie with Riverside Christian, and just one point behind La Conner.
In the first oral round against eventual champion Northwest Christian and Onalaska, Liberty Bell was tied with NWC going into the final question of the period and edged the Crusaders by one point.
Hubbard said the team will lose its two seniors, Chavey-Reynaud and Watson, to graduation this year, and sophomore Corey Diamond will leave the team to continue his studies in India next year.
The coach said his remaining young core of students, including sophomore Post and freshman Sebastian Hogness, should do well next year and help “plug up some of the holes” that will be left by departing teammates.
“Ninth place is a very respectful finish for a great team,” Hubbard said. “We had a successful season and will continue to build on our winning tradition as we finished higher than last year’s 12th place.”
