National Science Bowl

With abounding levels of confidence and zeal, the Calhoun High Yellow Jackets returned home Saturday night with a quarterfinal finish in the Southern Stingray Regionals of the National Ocean Sciences Bowl at USC-Columbia. CHS won its first two matches of the day over Hephzibah (Richmond County, GA) and Aquinas Academy (Augusta) and later added a victory over AAAA power Fort Dorchester from Charleston County, SC. At the end of six matches against all of the team in their division, CHS was selected for quarterfinal play with a 3-3 record from the first flight or matches. In matches four and five, Calhoun, lost heart-breaking rounds to West Ashley (SC) by eleven points and to Alexander (Douglasville, GA) by a mere two points.

Twenty one teams entered this one-day regional final whose it was to crown a champion who will join 24 other regional representatives at the national finals. The 2007 NOSB finals will be held at SUNY-Stony Brook on April 26-28. CHS is a second-year competitor in this regional; team coach Terry Bennett has coached five years in this regional and one additional year at the Spoonbill regional at the University of South Florida-St. Petersburg. The 2007 CHS team included: captain sophomore Michael Butler, junior Zachary Budzius, sophomore J.B. Box, freshman Ava Langford and freshman Clifford lance. The 2008 NOSB finals will be hosted by the University of Alaska at Seward.