DRAPER — A Juan Diego Catholic High School team of students competed in its first National Academic Quiz Tournament (NAQT) in Chicago, Ill., June 3-4. The Juan Diego team qualified for the tournament by winning the state’s first NAQT St. Joseph Catholic High School Invitational in Ogden March 12. The winning team consisted of Anthony Speare, Alyson Yeckes, Beth Burgstahler, Ryan Soklaski, Sarah Lindmar, Adam Donahoo, and Adam Hughes. They are all seniors who graduated in the Juan Diego Class of 2006. The team made its way through 10 grueling matches and finished with an overall 4-6 record having beaten teams from Ohio, Virginia, and North Carolina. Speare earned the highest individual player ranking of 72nd out of 654 high school quiz bowlers. In addition to the intense experience offered by the 128-team tournament, the students had the opportunity to try out for College Jeopardy, meet students from other states, practice matches, and tour Chicago. In the tournament held at St. Joseph in March, Juan Diego Team A played against Juan Diego Team B in the semi-final match. This particular match was decided by one question. A team from St. Joseph placed second. Fifty students from eight schools throughout Utah competed in the NAQT at St. Joseph High School. Ken Jennings, who won $2.5 million as a contestant on the game show "Jeopardy" in 2004 and 2005, served as the NAQT moderator. Jennings is on the NAQT board of trustees and does freelance work for the firm. He writes and edits questions for academic bowls. Jennings said the NAQT bowl helped prepare him for the success he had on "Jeopardy."
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