Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Farmington ACE Team Finishes Second
FAYETTEVILLE — The Farmington High Academic Competition in Education team swept through its semi-final match last week at Fayetteville High but came just short of meeting its goal to win the overall championship game.
Bentonville High won the state finals with a score of 55 points. Farmington finished second with 41 points and West Fork was third with 26 points. The matches were held March 13 in Fayetteville’s new auditorium.
“The difficulty of the questions definitely got a lot harder in the final match,” said ACE Captain Bo Blew.
Though the team did not receive a trophy, second place still has its advantages. The Farmington ACE team will share a $1,500 prize that will be divided among the 10 members. First place receives $2,000 and third-place takes home $1,000. This is the 10th consecutive year that Farmington has competed in the championship match. Out of those 10 years, Farmington has won the state title four years.
“I’m extremely proud of them,” said ACE coach Clayton Williams.
He added that he wanted to win the final match on behalf of the seniors but noted, second place is “definitely nothing to hang your head over.”
Farmington rolled through the first match of the day, dominating against Fayetteville and Gravette. Farmington correctly answered all 16 of its questions and then earned 12 extra points by buzzing in to answer questions missed by the other two teams. Farmington scored 76 points to win its semi-final match. Gravette had 37 points and Fayetteville only garnered 23 points.
West Fork then won against Shiloh Christian and Lifeway Christian in the second semifinal match to advance to the finals. Farmington took the initial lead in the championship match by answering its first four questions. However, the team hit a dry spell, missing the next four questions, and this allowed Bentonville to move ahead and stay ahead for the rest of the match.
Blew and senior Zach Nickell have competed in 14 ACE matches over the past three years. Blew said he’s enjoyed the experience because of the team members and the coaches, as well as “being along for the ride and winning a bunch.”
Nickell said his favorite part of ACE is the competition.
“I love the feeling you get when you get the answer right,” Nickell said.
The other Farmington team members are Jeremy Willbern, Josh Shaw, Sara Spillars, Gayle Newman, Audrey Rodgers, Sarah McGuire and Kassidy Rice.
The ACE program is in its 21st year and the future is a little unknown right now, Williams said. Program coordinators Dale and El Nading are stepping down after 21 years and are still looking for someone to take on the challenge next year.