Edison continues to compete

MILAN TWP. — Relief, sickness and a high heart rate. This is what Edison High School's Firelands Challenge team is feeling after taking one step closer to their 14th championship. Edison Schools, St. Mary Central Catholic and Huron Schools sent their Firelands Challenge teams to EHOVE Career Center to compete in the 45th season's playoff round on Wednesday. The final scores came down to the final round of questions when Edison won by one point. Edison scored 47 points, St. Mary followed with 46 and Huron was not far behind with 40. Firelands Challenge is an academic competition for local high schools organized by North Point Educational Service Center. The students compete to answer questions from numerous academic subjects. 'One of the best' Before the match began, Firelands Challenge coordinator William Muthig described the 45th season of the competition as "one of the best," which was set further into stone by the teams' performances from the playoff match. Coming out of the regular season, only seven points separated the three teams. Huron, Edison and St. Mary finished the season with 299, 301 and 306 points, respectively. All points were wiped out for the playoff match. Teams showed they were aiming for a win from the moment the match began. At the first score check, Huron had eight points, Edison had 16 and St. Mary was in the lead with 18. Through the match, Edison and St. Mary stayed neck and neck. At each score check, they did not stray further than seven points between the two of them, each trading off the lead. Huron's score jumped in the second half, but the team was not close enough to best Edison or St. Mary. The final round of questions would act as a deciding factor on who would move on to play in the championship against Port Clinton and Norwalk, who secured their spots based on their scores in the regular season. After an exciting round of quick team thinking and buzzing, Edison won by one point. After the playoff round, Norwalk and Port Clinton competed to determine the winner of a tiebreaker. Both teams finished the regular season with 343 points. Norwalk won, meaning the school will host the final championship round. The championship consists of three rounds, each hosted by a school with a team in the running. Dates for each round have not been determined yet. 'Rise to the occasion' Mary Moon and Ilah Reynolds, both seniors and captains of Edison's Firelands Challenge team, have a mix of emotions coming out of the playoffs, ranging from relief to sickness, but their strategy of working hard, communication, studying and accurate buzzing played out. Similar to the team captains, Edison's advisor, Amy Facemire, said her heart rate was up from the moment the match started to when it came to an end. These three teams were the same as those who went head-to-head in a practice match before the 45th season began. After taking third place in the practice and watching schools through the season, Facemire said she knew it would be a tight game. On top of the expected nerves of the playoff match, the scoreboards that usually track points during the match failed before it could begin, adding a layer of stress. Reynolds and Moon said they were locked in on tracking the scores while they were on and away from their team's buzzers. Facemire did the same. "I watched the scores," Facemire said. "We were winning, then losing, then winning, then losing. When we went up by about seven points is when I realized that we could do this." Without the scoreboard, the scores were periodically checked throughout the match. Moon said each time this was done, it was a test of character. "Are you going to rise to the occasion or are you going to let the nerves get the best of you?" Moon said. "I think that's something we're really good at. When we need to lock in and buckle down, we always can." With this match win, Edison Schools will continue its fight for its 14th consecutive championship win. With this in mind, Moon said she is coming out of this playoff match with gratitude, thanking those students who put in effort before her. "I definitely start out with being grateful," Moon said. "Not only for having a great match with great teams, which is great competition, but also the teams that came before us having been so helpful in making up strategy and study materials and just helping us continue the streak." For Reynolds, her first emotion is pride. She said the streak is a big deal not only for her school, but also at a personal level. "It's something that a lot of us really have a lot of stakes in," Reynolds said. "With our alumni coming to visit us, seeing them in the audience just makes us want to work harder and keep their hard work alive." Through Edison's 14-year streak, Moon said there is a sense of legacy to keep up with for the teammates who have had older siblings to contribute to the previous wins. To put just how long Edison's winning streak has been, Facemire turns to how old her current team is compared to when the run began. "If you think 14 years, these students were not even in school the first year that we started this," Facemire said. "We knew that I had a team that was going to have to work for this, but they are ready to work. They have shown me their dedication." Looking back at her team's performance, Facemire said the students had a "really, really not good" match earlier in the season, but it marked a turning point for them. Since then, they have been studying during their free time and working to do better. "We know it's going to be a challenge to be able to get that 14th against Port Clinton and Norwalk but we're going to do everything we can to get another plaque on the wall," Facemire said.