Q: Hi-Q winner?; A: Archbishop Murphy

MILL CREEK — The gymnasium was jammed.

The room erupted in whoops and cheers as the teams entered the room.

But as the competition began, there was silence so deep it was as if everyone was holding their collective breaths.

It was the type of silence you sometimes hear in the last seconds of a basketball game, home team down by two points, the star free throw shooter standing at the foul line, just as the ball has begun its arc toward the basket.

In this competition though, teams from Monroe, Jackson and Archbishop Murphy high schools were participating in an academic contest called Hi-Q.

Points are awarded for correct answers to questions on topics as varied as art history, literature, current events, math, chemistry, geography, and American and world history.

Most of the questions had to be answered within 15 seconds.

The three teams were battling for the state championship and the chance to go on to the national competition next month.

The Archbishop Murphy team got the early lead and continued to build a winning margin as the questions posed to the three teams ranged from naming the curate in Agatha Christie’s “Tape Measure Murder” to what one character cautioned another in Act 3 of “The Tempest.”

At the end of about 40 minutes of competition, the Archbishop Murphy team had accumulated 55 points, Monroe 40 and Jackson 23.

Craig Bowen, the Jackson High School team coach, said many of the students participating in the Hi-Q competitions go to top colleges and universities.

“Three years ago, we had a girl attend California Institute of Technology,” he said. She since has published a paper on astrophysics.

Jessica Zhuge, 17, a Jackson High School senior, said that she’s participated in her school’s Hi-Q team since she was a sophomore. “You learn a lot,” she said.

Paul McGoorty, an Archbishop Murphy senior, said that the team had worked hard all season. “It was a great way to end my senior year,” he said of his team’s win.

Fellow team member Emi Phillips, 18, said students often spend two to three hours a week preparing for the competitions, work that is in addition to what’s required for their academic course.

“It’s exciting,” she said of the team’s win. “It’s really fulfilling to have all the hard work pay off.”

Max Vilgalys*, another Murphy team senior, said that the match was exciting, but nerve-racking. Now the team has to prepare for the national meet, with harder questions, he said.

Murphy coach Gail Wellenstein said it made her nervous to sit and watch the teams compete. “Even though I have total confidence it the kids, it still is nerve-racking,” she said. “It was exciting. You could feel the energy in the gym.”

Wellenstein said that the participating in Hi-Q helps prepared students for college. “I think it’s an excellent example of how to learn a body of material…with an added fun element of turning it into a game,” she said.

The matches, with their cheering crowds of onlookers that burst into applause for right answers, also provides participants with important messages about the high value of academics, Wellenstein said.

“So often in discussions of education in the United States, they say, ‘How can we promote learning? How can we get more people in science, technology, engineering and math?’ By making it seem cool and fun, that’s an excellent way of promoting learning.”

Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com

Correction, March 7, 2013: Max Vilgalys’ name was spelled incorrectly in an earlier version of this story.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
Everett police searching for missing child, 4

Ariel Garcia was last seen Wednesday at an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Drive. The child was missing under “suspicious circumstances.”

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.