MSJ Science Bowl Finishes Second at MIT Invitational

By Staff Writers Rajorshi Chatterjee & Vikram Mahajan

MSJ’s Science Bowl A team won second place at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Science Bowl Invitational on November 16. It was the team’s first time attending the prestigious academic competition at the MIT campus in Boston. Captains Junior Advaith Mopuri and Sophomore Roshan Annamalai attended the event, along with A Team members Sophomore Theenash Sengupta and Freshmen Anish Agarwal and Ritvik Arora.

This year, MSJ’s Science Bowl Team has achieved second place at the regional South Middle Hollylake and Amador Valley tournaments, as well as a first place victory at the online Iron City Science Bowl Tournament. The team’s biggest highlight has been their quarterfinalist finish at the Science Bowl Nationals, held this year in Washington DC from April 25 to 29. 

Preparation for the MIT Science Bowl involved answering science-related questions by pressing a buzzer, similar to the National Science Bowl competition. The format places importance on both speed and accuracy, thus requiring practices to do the same.  “We have weekly practices, usually every Saturday, at [our captain] Advaith’s house, for two hours, [where] we run sets. Most of our studying is done by ourselves at home, so we spend several hours every week studying,” Captain Sophomore Roshan Annamalai said.

The team executed a strong showing at the competition against the 48 other competing teams, placing in the top two during the initial round-robin against five other teams and finished in second place at the end of eight intense double elimination rounds, placing second place in the overall competition.

Sophomore Theenash Sengupta performed particularly well, scoring many points for his team in the biology and chemistry-related question sets. The captains credited all members of the team for holding their own, and  they lauded Sengupta in particular. “[Sengupta] out-buzzed the other talented bio and chemistry mains and did really well on the hard bonuses,” Annamalai said.

Second place wasn’t the only thing that the team took from the tournament. “Besides getting to play … intense matches … we explored the city [of Boston], since we haven’t been there before, and we got to look at the MIT Campus. But the main part for me was probably just meeting new people from around the country,” Annamalai said. 

In noting the team’s strengths and positive experiences, however, Annamalai also acknowledged certain points where improvement may be necessary. “[Comprehending] specific nuances or details in the question … is a challenge for us right now,” Annamalai said. However, Annamalai believes these issues can be addressed by adjusting practice to include more complicated questions.

Following up on  their strong performance at the MIT Invitational, MSJ Science Bowl continues to look ahead. The team is now preparing for the upcoming Berkeley Science Bowl tournament on the UC Berkeley campus, with both the A and B teams scheduled to participate on December 7. Both teams will also be competing in the Sandia National Labs Regional Science Bowl Competition on Jan. 25, 2025, an event organized by the US Department of Energy. “We look forward to … hopefully sweeping the competition at regionals,” Annamalai concluded.