The Greenhills Ethics Bowl team brought home the hardware last month, besting reigning Ann Arbor Pioneer to become the new state champions—and qualifying for a trip to Chapel Hill, N.C. for a national competition in April.

Ethics Bowl coach Mark Randolph reported that two full teams and a partial team competed hard over the course of an 11-hour day at the University of Michigan’s Palmer Commons Conference Center. Greenhills fielded enough players to form two full teams and the better part of a third team, Randolph said.

“At one point our Greenhills Green team was competing against the Temp team, with three of the four members  being fellow Greenhills team members,” Randolph said.

The Greenhills Green Team consisted of Chipper Aspegren, Houston Scott, Edward Ferry, Jessica Norris, Bonnie Liu and Gabi Levy.  They qualified for the quarterfinals before falling to one of Pioneer’s teams by the narrowest of margins.

Temp Team members included Olivia Shulman, Nikhil Navathe and Sonaal Verma, who were all impressive in their debuts.

The Greenhills Blue Team included Ian Harris, Ali Schulte, Trey McDonald, Harry Bagenstos, Matt Chatas and Amar Nigam.  After a tough loss to Pioneer’s reigning state champion team in the second round, the Blue Team rallied to make the finals.

“That’s where we exacted revenge by unseating the current state champs and returning the Hemlock Cup to the talons of the Gryphon,” Randolph said with a smile.

It’s the second time in three years that the Greenhills program captured a state championship and earned a berth in the National Bowl schedule for April 15-16th at UNC-Chapel Hill, he added.

“Even more significant than the results, they participated with joy and thoughtfulness,” Randolph said. “They bring to the school community the idea that ethics discussion is the key to leading an ethical life.”