Walton Kickoff
Certamen Tournament
The Advanced Finals between the longtime rivals of Northview, North Gwinnett, and Walton while GJCL President Michael Banks looks on intently.
The winning Walton team in the Novice division consisting of eighth graders.
Vineet Gangireddy
The mix of apprehension and excitement was tangible in the air of Walton High School’s newly established rotunda. On September 16th, JCLers from all over Georgia came to Walton to participate in the first Certamen tournament of the year. The rotunda was packed tight with players frantically cramming, National Convention participants reuniting, and volunteers organizing. Novice players, faced with their first ever tournament, were asking their more experienced counterparts for advice and guidance while Intermediate and Advanced players were quizzing each other rapidly.
The tournament started off at 9:00 a.m. with preliminary rounds consisting of twenty questions each about the Roman Monarchy, Gods and Goddesses, early Latin literature, and the Latin language itself. JCLers experienced their first Certamen questions of the year, and fierce rivalries were born in the Novice division and revisited in the upper divisions. After the preliminary rounds, lunch finally satiated the players’ growling stomachs where, for an hour, JCLers came together, forming new friendships and strengthening old ones while also preparing for the highly anticipated Finals.
Walton, North Gwinnett, and Northview clashed in the finals for the Advanced division with Walton coming out on top, followed by Northview and North Gwinnett. The Intermediate and Novice divisions were also heavily contested with Northview winning Intermediate and Walton winning Novice.
The whole tournament wouldn’t have been possible without the help of the volunteers from the WJCL and the sponsors from all the schools that participated. The tournament was very smoothly run and fun for all players. Everyone is excited for the next Certamen tournament at Eastside on December 9th where they can once again show off their skills in this wonderful competition.
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