The 20th Annual Gateway Toyota Academic Challenge, an event coordinated each year by Kathleen D’Andrea, Monsignor Donovan High School vice principal, was held on Nov. 15. The Toms River High School hosted 80 teams from 36 different schools from Ocean, Monmouth, Atlantic, Middlesex, Burlington, Bergen, and Mercer counties, including Red Bank Catholic High School and Christian Brothers Academy, Lincroft.

Gateway Toyota of Toms River on Rt. 37 has sponsored the tournament for the last six years, making it possible to award trophies and scholarships to the schools of the winning teams. Gateway general manager Ed Sunday has encouraged academic competition as a forum for students to demonstrate their knowledge.

During the preliminary rounds almost 500 students and their advisors filled every classroom in the building as two teams in each room pitted their knowledge against each other in a Jeopardy-like format that included categories from archeology to pop culture. Twenty teams returned on Nov. 21 for the quarterfinals in each of the divisions.

The champion team in the Varsity A division was High Tech High School, Monmouth County, and the runner-up was East Brunswick High School, Middlesex County. Lenape High School, Burlington County, and Leonia High School, Bergen County, were semifinalists. In the Varsity B division, Pinelands Regional High School, Ocean County, was the winner. Howell High School, Monmouth County, was the runner-up. The semifinalists were Pinelands 2 and Shawnee High School, Burlington County. High Tech High School won the JV division.

All of the winning schools listed have received scholarships for their schools.