Premium ContentMouse over Home then click on Premium Content for information.Lincoln East High School's weekend win in a regional science competition was no landslide, not for a team used to beating all comers for the right to represent Nebraska at nationals in Washington, D.C.
It was a snowstorm.
Saturday's winter weather kept all but four of the 40 registered teams at home. That left Lincoln East, Columbus and two teams from Wayne tangling for the 2012 Nebraska Science Bowl.
"We wish we could have showcased our talents a little bit more . but it is what it is," said Lincoln East coach Kyle Thompson, whose team is making its third straight trip to nationals.
After staying in Wayne overnight Friday, East won all six rounds in the double round-robin, Jeopardy-style, quiz competition. Their leads ranged from 60 to 150 points, according to East team captain Akshay Rajagopal. In years past, average leads ranged from 30 to 40 points, he said.
In the end, it was the event's weather policy — and not East's victory — that met skepticism from coaches across the state.
Under the state regional site's policy, a weather cancellation would not postpone the competition, but eliminate it. Any cancellation would leave the regional winner to be drawn from a hat, said Todd Young, the second-year regional coordinator.
Even though regionals can be held from Jan. 14 to March 3, Young said, the difficulty of rescheduling an event that requires more than 100 volunteers effectively takes postponement off the table.
Only a "'Day After Tomorrow' blizzard" could have kept Young from hosting the bowl over the weekend, said the Wayne State associate professor of physics. Young alerted the contestants late Friday night that the competition would go ahead as planned, a message answered by disappointed coaches.
Creighton Prep coach Dave Dow called the policy "intrinsically unfair."
Thompson said the policy's priorities were backwards.
Ultimately, the competition is about the students, not the volunteers, Thompson said, who called for the group to change its policy to allow makeup dates in the future.
Young, too, was disappointed the weather spoiled the weekend for so many high school science and math students and weakened the overall competition.
Still, Young said, "any competition was better" than randomly selecting a winner.
Others weren't so sure.
"I don't know what's better: having four teams (compete) or drawing a name out of a hat," said Amy Voss, coach of the Grand Island Senior High School quiz bowl team, which canceled its trip Friday afternoon.
While many Grand Island parents were relieved, Voss said she knows the five seniors on her team were disappointed that they couldn't compete.
Looking at weather forecasts Friday, Thompson said, the only option for Lincoln East was an afternoon trip and overnight stay.
For teams in Omaha and Bellevue, including Omaha North and Bellevue East, the decision to stay home came from the top.
OPS spokeswoman Luanne Nelson said the district canceled all school and school-related activities over the weekend.
Bellevue East coach and English teacher David Bossman said he had planned to take the team to Wayne on Friday night before the district canceled school activities.
Part of Bossman wanted the competition canceled, he said.
"Well, at least we have a shot then," he joked, referring to the name-drawing procedure.
But even a full field would have meant a tough fight with Lincoln East for any school, Bossman acknowledged.
With its vanquishing of three competitors, the winning students won an all-expenses paid trip to Washington, D.C., from April 26 through 30.
Lincoln East won the competition outright two years ago and earned a trip last year when regional champion Creighton Prep could not go because of scheduling conflicts, Thompson said.
East seniors Jessica Qiu, Michael Liou and Drew Bakenhus, sophomore Rajagopal and freshman Myan Bhoopalam will join the members of 68 other teams nationally in the finals.
Rajagopal said he wished more teams could have shown up, but he is glad to have won nonetheless.
"In the end, we're all just happy we get to go to D.C.," he said.
While the East team prepares for nationals, Young said he will look to tweak the weather policy and push for a makeup date in time for the 2013 competition.
And he hopes the weather won't be a factor again.
"We hope for the best," he said. "In this case, it got the best of us."
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