Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 13, 1995 TAG: 9502130061
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS LENGTH: Medium
``Cosmology,'' said Geoff Milanovich, clinching a narrow victory for E.C. Glass High School of Lynchburg over Spotswood High School of Penn Laird.
Milanovich and his team then ran outside the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility and whooped and jumped with relief in warm afternoon weather Saturday.
``Well, that answer basically decided my career. It's cosmology for me,'' Milanovich said as he tried to catch his breath.
The E.C. Glass team will travel to the national match in April.
Saturday's 16-team meet marked the third year CEBAF was host of the regional competition.
Last year's regional winners, Denbigh High School of Newport News, did not send a team to the regionals this year, said event organizer Beverly Hartline.
Spotswood, which beat Lafayette High School of James City County to reach the finals, had to play Glass for two rounds because the Glass team entered the finals without a defeat.
Spotswood started the final round by beating Glass 114-84.
Glass senior Elliot Tally said, ``It had been two hours since our last match. We were slow because we got out of our groove and into our leisure activities.''
Spotswood trailed most of the second game but could have made up a 10-point deficit on the final question. But Milanovich beat Spotswood to the buzzer for a 98-84 victory.
The Lafayette team had never attended the Science Bowl and took third place without much practice. Senior Ryan Bedell didn't even join the team until two days before the meet.
``Someone had to do my sign-in form for me while we were playing the first round,'' Bedell said. ``We really came in not knowing what each of us knew. We were buzzing when someone else on the team really knew the answer. Knowing the strengths of your team is really important.''
The Lafayette students who had a little more advance notice of the event did practice a little, said senior Eric Cooprider.
``One night we just took out all the Trivial Pursuit cards and asked all the science questions we could find,'' he said.
by CNB