Editor’s note: The first photograph is courtesy of Jim Hardesty. The Editor took the photo of her granddaughter.
High on the wall behind the Morrison High School Football trophy cases, large plaques proclaim Illinois High School Association 1A Regional Scholastic Bowl Championships. Tonight, Monday, March 4, 2024, five students earned another.
Regional Championships were secured in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009 (with a 2009 Sectional Championship, too.) As tonight’s win was realized, a delighted Coach Brian Bartoz was not certain how long it had been since this honor occurred. “It’s the first Regional Championship since”…years ago he said.
Later, Bartoz wrote, “Congratulations to Morrison High School’s Scholastic Bowl team on its victory in the IHSA Regional, on Monday, March 4! Monday’s victory is the Scholastic Bowl program’s first IHSA Regional win since the 2015-16 season, when the team was led by its former Coach, Adam Smith.
“Morrison won its matches against Freeport (Aquin), Milledgeville, and Pecatonica. The match against Pecatonica was especially close; Pecatonica was leading 300-290 after the 23rd question of the match. On the 24th question—the final question of the match—Nara Hardesty buzzed in with the correct answer, and Blaine Williams contributed the answers to the Bonus questions to ensure a 330-300 win for Morrison.”
Left-to-right are Blaine Williams, Caden Bielema, Nara Hardesty, Coach Bartoz, Violet Mills, and Anna Blevins.
After a delayed start due to a Tornado warning, these schools competed in three rounds:
Forreston
Freeport (Aquin)
Lanark (Eastland)
Morrison
Milledgeville
Pearl City
Pecatonica.
Adults read Toss-Up and Bonus questions. Some were immediately familiar and quickly answered. If you waited to hear all the question options that shared the same answer, you often could remember one and get points. Other questions were not familiar, but Morrison’s Team Coach Nara Hardesty, in particular, was unafraid of guessing. Something in a question triggered something in the teens’ memory banks. They occasionally were surprised to be correct. That strategy comes with experience.
The Morrison team defeated challenging Pecatonica High School 330 to 300. On Saturday, March 2, Morrison had beaten them in an even-closer State match: 150 to 140.
Blevins holds the newest–and long overdue–IHSA 1A Regional Championship plaque.
On Saturday morning, March 9, the Scholastic Bowl Team will compete in the Warren Sectional at Warren, IL.
Match 2 at 10:00: Winnebago vs. Morrison
Match 3 at 10:50: Port Byron (Riverdale) vs. Morrison
Match 6 at 11:40: Morrison vs. Ashton (A.-Franklin Center.)
