The OLHS Scholastic Bowl team celebrates their long-awaited state championship victory outside of Jamestown Highschool on Feb. 24, 2024. Back row left to right: Raghav Mantri, Samuel Kidd, Jackson Crickard, Kaushik Tatta, Clark Smith and Robinson Chen. Middle row left to right: Cole Graninger, Nathan He, Miranda Blaser, Karthik Mure, Daxing Yang, Frankie Graninger and Rohan Sagar. Front row left to right: Austin Mao, Pratik Patel, Zaid Muhammad, Meilin Ranjan, Rishab Rejith and Rockwell Li. Photo used with permission from David Smith.

On Feb. 24, 2024, the Scholastic Bowl team brought home a state championship.

The state tournament was played in a round-robin format. The Dolphins scored wins against Lightridge, Granby and Albemarle, which qualified them for the High School National Championship Tournament. 

“Truth be told, the entire team stands out for different reasons,” said junior Jackson Crickard, who specializes in mythology questions. “There’s Meilin [Ranjan] who can answer bio questions within five seconds. There’s Sam [Kidd], who as soon as you mention one city, he knows what country it’s in. Kaushik’s [Tatta] is great with music and art history questions, Austin [Mao] knows random trivia questions and Rockwell [Li] is great at math.”

Four out of the past five years, the team has fallen short of the top spot at the state tournament. However, key upperclassmen leadership propelled them over the hump this year. Ocean Lakes’ movement to the 5A region from 6A immediately made them the team to beat for the upcoming season.

Outside of Virginia High School League (VHSL), the team’s excellence, especially in math and science, has led to continued success in both the Battle of the Brains TV show and the Virginia High School Science Bowl.

“Our Scholastic Bowl Team demonstrated exceptional skill, strategic thinking, and teamwork,” said Ocean Lakes Principal Claire LeBlanc. “Their victory highlights their talents and underscores the strength of our school’s academic program and the unwavering support of their coach, Miranda Blaser.”

Jackson believes there is nothing but good things to come for the team in upcoming seasons, despite the inevitable loss of three invaluable seniors. Next season, the team, along with Jackson, projects to be led by Kaushik Tatta and Rockwell Li, along with underclassmen Clark Smith, Nathan He, Mahi Sakharpe, Frankie Graninger and Cole Graninger. 

“I’m not worried, I think we have a great team and we’ll continue to have a great team for several more years,” said Jackson.