Lisle, Stevenson win state scholastic championship

After flexing some considerable academic muscle, two local teams in the 2010 Illinois High School Association Scholastic Bowl emerged from the weekend competition as state champions.

Students at Lisle Senior and Stevenson high schools won the coveted top honor in their respective class Friday in Peoria, capping off five months of hard-fought matches and tournaments.

Sixteen schools in two classes competed. Players had 30 seconds or less to calculate complex mathematical equations and topics ranging from Federal Reserve boss Ben Bernanke to Ernest Hemingway to Watergate to 1930s Japanese military adventurism.

"We worked so hard for it and wanted it so badly," said 17-year-old Naiomi Gunaratne, Lisle Senior High School's team captain. "Even getting to state was a huge honor. Winning it was icing on the cake."

Lisle came from behind after coach Yousef Matariyeh's half-time pep talk to defeat New Berlin High School for Class A champs. It's Lisle's first state win since a scholastic bowl team was created there less than a decade ago.

In Class AA, Stevenson defeated Rockford's Auburn High School. It was head varsity coach Bruce Fitzgerald's third state championship since he began leading Stevenson's team some 16 years ago. Fitzgerald said it takes more than just brain power to make a winning player; they also must have guts.

"They have to be able to think fast and can't be afraid to press the buzzer and be wrong," Fitzgerald said. "It's a lot like being a relief pitcher in baseball - if they get a hit off you, you have to be able to shrug it off and throw that next pitch."

Both Lisle and Stevenson had players named to the IHSA Scholastic Bowl All-State team. Lisle junior Greg Dzuricsko made the cut along with Stevenson's Zach Blumenfeld and Kevin Malis, also both juniors.