Long hours of practice and monthly competitions paid off this weekend for Eastside High School’s academic team as it took top honors on Saturday in AAA in the Georgia Academic Team Association State Championship Tournament.

Eastside’s team of Nic Walter (captain), Patrick Ford, Adhithya Rajasekaran and Julianna Laseter and Conner Bryan and Cole Rogers bested six other teams in a round-robin series of matches, with a 7-1 record and a tie-breaker over Woodward Academy. The team is coached by Eric Adams.

Beginning with the start of the academic year, team members have practiced twice a week, Wednesdays and Fridays, for about 90 minutes a session, and competed in monthly tournaments. The teens were indeed a team, with each taking an area of interest or strength to focus on.

"We’ve not been very good in the past," said Adams. "We’ve been making a slow but sure move from mediocrity to good."

A few more practice sessions remain for this year, and the team may take on the faculty in a competition, Adams said. Faced with the loss of so much senior talent, Adams also wants to talk with the middle schoolers who will attend Eastside next year and encourage their participation in the team.

It's Academic
Think of academic competitions as sort of a team "Jeopardy!" competition. Clues start with obscure references to the subject and become progressively easier. How would you do on the following sample questions for academic competition?

This mythical figure killed the centaurs Hylaeus and Rhaecus, and at King Pelia's funeral games, defeated Leleus in a wrestling match. This person met a lover at a temple of Zeus and was punished by being turned in lioness. The daughter of Iasus, she joined Meleager in his hunt for the Calydonian Boar. For 10 points, name this Greek woman who was defeated in a footrace thanks to some golden apples.
A: Atalanta

As home secretary he sent Metropolitan Police officers to Wales to deal with striking coal miners in the Tonypandy Riot. He served as First Lord of the Admiralty at the start of World War I, but was dismissed after Gallipoli. His literary output, including six volumes on "The World Crisis," earned him a 1954 Nobel Prize. For 10 points, name this prime minister who led Britain during World War II.
A: Winston Churchill