JHS SCHOLAR BOWL TEAMS WIN FIRST DISTRICT TITLE

Chris Warren has coached the JHS Scholar Bowl team for eight years. Jackson USA Signal/Mark Evans

While Michael Williams' and Brett Price's last minute heroics were not replayed on television or chronicled on area sports pages, the two helped a Jackson high school team pull out a district championship Saturday.

Instead of a spectator athletic sport, though, the district crown was for the JHS scholar bowl team. It was the first-ever for the team, which has been in existence off and on for 15 or more years.

It also turns around a somewhat disappointing regular season performance by the team.

"It was really a pretty mediocre season until Saturday," said Adviser Chris Warren. "We hadn't taken first place in a single meet until district. That's unusual for us."

The JHS squad appears to be peaking at the right time, though, and will compete in the state meet for the first time in school history, May 6 in Columbia. Unfortunately, that is also the night of prom.

"That's bad luck. I didn't tell them that until after the district meet," Warren said. She believes she can have the team members back in time to get to at least part of the prom.

The nine-member team is led by captain Keturah Kiehl, one of three seniors. Adam Morris and Williams are the others. Meets have been held at North County (Bonne Terre) Notre Dame, Cape Central and Jackson. The JHS squad nipped Farmington in overtime to take the district title. Williams and Kiehl were named all-district. Other team members are juniors Richard Smith, Lynn, Perry, Rodgers and Price and sophomore Andrew Lutes.

Each member, naturally, has an area of specialty. Chris Lynn enjoys sports and history questions, while Williams prefers math and science, Morris literature, Carol Perry mythology, Price sports and Kiehl biblical questions.

Interestingly, the final tie-breaking question answered by Price involved identifying a newspaper classified ad.

"We're trying to bone up on Articles of the Constitution," said Warren, an English teacher. She noted that beating arch-rival Cape Central is always a highlight for the team.

The team had existed off and on under Ruth Schweer and later Debbie Hoffman. Warren started it again eight years ago, at the imploring of student Tim Miller, now an engineer in California.

"Tim bugged me and bugged me to form a Scholar Bowl team," she said. "Finally, about his junior year, I did."

The Jackson team will be one of eight district champions at the state meet. Three qualifying rounds will be played in the morning. The teams with the four best won-lost percentages will move on.