Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Yay For The Win!
FARMINGTON — Three Farmington seniors are finishing their careers as members of the high school’s Academic Competition in Education team with a record, third consecutive season championship.
Farmington won the 201920 championship scoring 50 points during the finals match Feb. 26 at Farmington Performing Arts Center. Bentonville High School finished in second place with 45 points. Bentonville West High School trailed in third place with 38 points.
The Farmington team will receive $2,000 for first place. Bentonville receives $1,500 and Bentonville West team members will get $1,000.
This is the first time a Farmington team has won three years in a row. It also is Farmington’s 7th ACE championship and the Cardinals’ 16th appearance in the championship game.
Clayton Williams, Farmington’s ACE facilitator, said he believes the teams’ work ethic over the years is what’s made the difference.
“It goes back to 2004 when we won our first one,” Williams said. “That has been contagious over and over again.”
He added, “Whether we win or lose, we’ll put forth the best work effort.”
His teams have had smart students across the board, Williams said, and can compete with kids from any school.
But the difference is that “we can outwork anyone any day of the week.”
Seniors Katie Jansson, Joshua Jowers and Reid Petrie have competed on the winning teams the past three years.
“This year was definitely the most difficult,” Jowers said after the match. “Our competition was a lot better this year.”
Jowers’ comment about the competitive season played out in a nail-biting championship match.
An ACE match has two halves, with the first half focusing more on language arts questions and the second half leaning more toward math and science questions.
Teams are given 15 seconds and four tries to answer a question. A team receives four points if the first answer is correct, then three points, two points or one point. After 15 seconds, opponents can buzz in to give a correct answer and steal one point.
For the championship match, Farmington was leading at the end of the first half with 25 points but Bentonville and Bentonville West were not far behind with 17 points each.
Farmington was not able to answer four of its questions during the second half, giving Bentonville and Bentonville West the opportunity to close the gap.
With one question remaining in the second half, the score was Farmington 39, Bentonville 38 and Bentonville West 38.
The last question of each half is a toss- up question on a specific subject, which means all three teams can buzz in to answer the question for four points.
This time, the topic for the last question was art history, the subject Jowers had studied for ACE this year.
Moderator Dustin Seaton with Northwest Arkansas Education Service Cooperative asked the name of a painting by a certain artist. Jowers said he looked over that artist the night before. The answer was “The Third of May.” Jowers’ birthday just happens to be on May 3.
The team erupted in celebration when Jowers correctly answered the question.
However, ACE rules allow teams to challenge answers after the game. Four challenges were submitted this time.
Farmington submitted two challenges: one that its answer was correct for a math problem and another that its American government question was outside the scope of the subject.
Bentonville submitted two challenges for questions team members thought they answered correctly, one for an answer about Shakespeare (for three points) and the other a math question.
After studying and ruling on the challenges, judges gave Farmington four points for its math question. Judges ruled Bentonville High should receive seven points, which in turn meant that Farmington lost one point.
In addition, the judges agreed that Farmington’s American government question was confusing. They decided to throw out the question and give Farmington another question. If Farmington missed the question after four tries, Bentonville would have the opportunity to buzz in for a point to tie the game.
Everyone went back to the stage for the final question with scores looking like this: Farmington, 46; Bentonville, 45; Bentonville West, 38.
Petrie answered the question correctly and the team’s earlier win stood.
Jowers later expressed his appreciation to Williams on behalf of the team, saying Williams plays a big role in the success of Farmington’s ACE teams.
“I am certain that we would not be nowhere as successful without him,” Jowers said. “He puts in at least as much of his time as we do ours into helping us prepare.”
He added, “There’s no way we would have been in a position to win without him.”
Prior to the championship game, Farmington defeated Gravette in a semi- final match to advance to the finals and Bentonville West defeated Prairie Grove in a very close match to advance.
Prairie Grove was leading Bentonville West by a score of 23 to 15 at the half and stayed ahead until the last two questions of the game. Bentonville West won with 46 points to Prairie Grove’s 39 points.
Donna Mitchell, Prairie Grove’s ACE facilitator, said she knew the game would be close because both teams were so evenly matched.
“I’m proud of our team for their commitment and dedication,” Mitchell said. “Congratulations to those advancing to the finals.”