A team of 32 students from Montgomery Blair High School took first place in the fall international Knowledge Master Open last week, furthering the record of exceptional performance by Montgomery County Public Schools in the academic competition.

The Blair team correctly answered 196 out of 200 multiple choice questions to take first in the state of Maryland, first in the nation, and first in the world.

Seven-time champion Blair broke the international record for winning the tournament, which they previously shared with Rockville High School. The Blair team is captained by senior Will Pastor, and coached by social studies teacher David Swaney and math teacher Kevin Westrich.

More than 3,000 middle school, junior high and high school teams faced their computers to answer 200 challenging questions in the event, earning points for the speed and accuracy of their answers. The questions covered 14 curricular areas, including American and world history, government, economics and law, geography, literature, math, the sciences, fine arts and popular culture.

Designed to stimulate learning and recognition for academic achievement, the Knowledge Master Open runs on classroom computers to allow all students the opportunity to compete in a large academic event without the expense of traveling to a central site.

Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda placed 4th overall and Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville placed 6th.

Contact: David Swaney, Kevin Westrich (coaches) tel: 301-649-2851