Hillgrove Rookies Headed to Nationals

The moderator looks at the official question sheet as four teams tensely wait in the cafeteria at Henry County High School. “Confusion, or loss of awareness, nausea, thirst, fainting are signs of what?”

Cadet Houtan Satarian buzzes in. “Shock,” he says confidently.

“Shock is correct," the moderator announces. "Ten points for Hillgrove.”

The rookies do a quick fist pump as the moderator moves on to the next question.

That reaction from ’s brand new NJROTC academic team during the first of nine rounds at the Area 12 (Georgia and Florida) Brain Brawl Championship was commonplace on Saturday.

“This competition is effectively our state championship,” said Chief Allen Harris, who instructs the program along with Capt. Charles Mingonet.

By finishing fifth out of 20, they earned a ticket to the national Brain Brawl competition on May 21.

The Hillgrove team—Satarian, Hunter Guthrie, Austin Horan, Miguel Maldonado and Jacob Yingling—made it to Saturday's competition by  against 16 other teams in the regionals two weeks ago in Jacksonville, FL.

The questioning began at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday and ran until 6 that night—a nine-and-a-half-hour gap from start to finish.

“It’s about staying focused," Horan said.

“Staying confident,” Yingling added.

“Keeping a level head,” Maldonado tossed in.

To prepare, the team brushed up on current events, history, science, math and literature, Allen said. 

“The questions come out of textbooks,” he explained, adding that a regional staff selects which ones will be asked at the competition.

There were naval questions as well:  “The superstructure of a ship includes all structures above which deck?” 

The correct answer is “the main deck."

A slight crowd of NJROTC (Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps) supporters were there to cheer on their teams.  The long event drained off some of the Hillgrove boosters, but they said they're ready to root for the team at the national competition, which will also be at Henry County High.