Junior Peter Blanchfield advanced to the National History Bowl for the 5th time in a row this year. The team advanced to nationals together at the end of march, but for a variety of different reasons, Blanchfield is the only member of the team who will advance in the competition.

“For some [members of the team] the price was a little much, other people felt like they weren’t good enough to go to nationals, and others already had conflicts that got in the way. I tried to recruit other people to go, but it was too short notice to get anyone,” Blanchfield said.

For Blanchfield, this competition will be no walk in the park. Not only is he moving to the varsity level in the solo portion of the competition, but he will also be competing by himself in the team portion. “ Last year I finished 50th out of about 120 in the B, and in the Geography competition i finished about 20th out of 80. This year I at least want to get in the top 32. A lot of these kids are home schooled or practice all the time, so I’m not trying to win the whole thing,” he said.