Academic Team Takes On Second 'Challenge'

After their in November, the academic team is ready for their next appearance on MSG Varsity's "The Challenge."

Five members of the team—seniors Michael Lovito, Parker Dixon, Julie Messing, Adam Rosenzweig and Joseph Slamm—travel to New York City to tape their competition in Round 2 of "The Challenge." Their opponent will be Piscataway High School.

The students were selected from a tryout in September. They answered questions in the style of "The Challenge" to show off their accuracy, recall abilities and speed in "buzzer reaction," according to a statement prepared by Fineman.

The winning team from Thursday night's episode of "The Challenge" will advance to the second round of competition.

The episode will air on March 15 at 6:30 p.m. on MSG Varsity, an Optimum channel, or at www.msgvarsity.com.

Stephen Fineman, the advisor for the academic team, said the team finished No. 14 of 48 yeams in the Phillipsburg Tournament on Feb. 4. "Courtney Johnson, Adam Rosenzweig, Anna Ivashko, and Dylan Toolajian swept through their three preliminary games," Fineman said.

The scores were:

• Chatham 560, William Allen Academy  340
• Chatham 480, Bloomfield 130
• Chatham 700, Colonia Academy 350

The team fell to John F. Kennedy Academy by a single question. The final score was 630-570.

The team also competed in two preliminary rounds in the Bridgewater-Raritan Tournament. Currently the team is died for eighth place out of 46 teams.

The scores thus far are:

• Chatham 840, High Tech 840
• Chatham 1080, Monroe 640