TPHS academic team ends successful season at finals

Eight of the highest-scoring academic teams in the region gathered at TPHS on April 18 for the North County Academic League tournament.

TPHS joined Canyon Crest Academy, Del Norte High School, Mission Hills High School, Mission Vista High School, Rancho Bernardo High School, San Dieguito Academy and Westview High School in four rounds of high-stakes trivia ranging from music history to current events.

The participants were either champions of their regional divisions or had qualified via special rounds. TPHS entered the tournament with a 5-1 record and a regional championship title. However, they were defeated 59- 60 during their first round against Westview.

“It was tough losing by one point, but that’s the nature of the game,” Timour Mammadov-Vaurie (11), a member of the TPHS Varsity academic team, said. “I’m really proud of our team and the season we had nonetheless.”

The final winner of the night was Del Norte, who defeated Westview 112-50 in the semifinal round.

“[The Del Norte team] developed a very strong chemistry had a really diverse team, so I thought we had a great chance to do really well,” Aman Jain, a senior on the Del Norte academic team, said.

Preparing for the tournament, the TPHS team devoted six hours a week to practices.

“We were definitely confident heading into the tournament, maybe a bit too confident,” Ron Tal (12), a member of the TPHS Varsity academic team, said.

The tournament marks the end of the academic team season for TPHS “Winning our division was great, and we fought until the very end of the final match,” Tal said.