I think it's one of those years where the competition among county schools is showing itself on the field. It's balanced out.

The competition gets fairly intense. Almost every year we head into the final round where all five schools are still in contention [for the win in the quiz bowl].

There will a lot of good competition from Division I and II schools.

Essentially, it is a product of increasing competition. The challenge is that the state schools have the advantage of taxpayer support. Private schools have to compete.

It's good competition. They run big schools and small schools together and then separate the scores by class. We'll be running head-to-head with them, so it will be a good chance for them to see how much they can push themselves.

These kids had all earned top individual scores at the regional competition in February. And that's why they were eligible for states.