Each team took two tests on music and social sciences. The students were given 30 minutes to complete each exam. The students took the tests independently, and each student’s scores were added to their school’s total score.
“We did pretty well. It’s hard to say because we haven’t seen the other teams’ scores,” said senior Christoph Steefel.
According to coach Paul Verbanszky, the students on the Campolindo team were competing against one another to earn a spot on one of two rosters for the scrimmage. “At county level we can only have 9 people on the team and we can submit two teams. However, right now, we have 36 people competing. So we’re competing against each other within a team,” he said.
Within a team of 9, there must be 3 honor students, 3 scholastic students and 3 varsity students, categorized by GPA. Honor students have a GPA of 3.75-4.00, scholastic students have a GPA of 3.00-3.74, and varsity students have a GPA of 2.99 or below. Verbanszky believes that the teams need more varsity students, rather than an abundance of scholastic students.
Acalanes has stepped up their competition this year, and will be the Cougars’ main rival, according to Verbanszky.
“I wasn’t that nervous going in, but it’s always hard to know how the other schools are going to do,” said Steefel. “I think it’ll be closer than last year and we’ll have to keep stepping up our game. I think we’ll still do well,” he added.
Senior captain Tristan Caro believes that, although Acalanes is doing better than past years, Campolindo will prevail. “I think we have one of the best groups of students I’ve ever encountered,” he said.
According to Steefel, the team is looking to do at least as well as the past 3 years, with a return trip to both the state and national championships.
