On Saturday, February 3, 2019 ConVal’s Ocean Bowl Team took third place in the 2019 Nor’easter Bowl that was held at the University of New England in Biddeford, Maine.
The competition consists of five round-robin competition matches to start the day. The second half of the day is a single elimination tournament where the winning teams continue to advance and compete. The Conval Ocean Bowl team made it the semi-finals, where they lost to York who ended up coming in second place.
The team members included: Savannah Kersbergen (Captain), Ryan Beal, Bronwyn Tyler-Wall, Isabel Dreher, Avery Pope, and Sandra MacKay coached by Griffen Fletcher (math/physics teacher) and Anna Muncy (science teacher).
The team had a few obstacles to overcome, but they immediately focused and gave it their full effort. The team won two round-robins and lost two round-robins. When it became single elimination, they played well and defeat the number one seed (Falmouth A) to advance to the semi-finals.
This year, the Nor’Easter Bowl’s committee dedicated the Team Sportsmanship Award to Conval’s very own Jon Manley. Jon Manley was a previous coach for the Conval Ocean Bowl team taking the first teams to the Nor’easter Bowl and NOSB Finals. Jon Manley coached the team when Mr. Fletcher was a student on the team, inspiring Mr. Fletcher to carry on ConVal’s and Mr. Manley’s legacy.
The Nor’easter Bowl is an annual, regional competition of the National Ocean Bowl (NOSB). It was created by the Consortium for Ocean Leadership. First place continues to the National Ocean Science Bowl Competition held in Washington D.C. this year.
The 2019 competition is sponsored by its co-sponsors, the University of Maine School of Marine Sciences, University of New Hampshire/NH Sea Grant, and the Gulf of Maine Marine Education Association. It is additionally sponsored by NOAA, Deerbrook Charitable Trust, American Honda Foundation, NASA, Eastman Foundation, Lockheed Martin, Shell, Schwab Charitable Fund, Conservation Fund, The Curtis & Edith Munson Foundation, Sharon & Wayne Sterberger, BOEM, IEEE Ocean Engineering Society, Marine Technology Society, National Marine Educators Association, and Leave Only Bubbles Marine Sciences Curriculum Supplies. There are numerous other funding sources, institutions providing volunteers, and institutions providing field trip prizes.