The Hays High Scholars Bowl team was unable to compete in what would have been their last meet of the season due to a Sunday night snow.

The Indians were scheduled to go to regionals in Shawnee Mill Valley on Feb. 10, which had been postponed from Feb. 6 for weather-related reasons.

Sponsor Cheryl Shepherd-Adams said she made the call not to go after consulting with USD 489 transportation.

“When decision time came, the KDOT site still showed I-70 as completely snow-packed from here to east of Salina,” Shepherd-Adams said. “I’m not going to take unnecessary risks with my students.”

Shepherd-Adams said her favorite part about this season was watching the team grow in confidence and become faster on the buzzers, in addition to being present at the discovery of a phenomenon the team calls “Suburban Gum.”

Shepherd-Adams also said that next year she hoped to build on what the team had learned this season.

“Losing our two seniors will hurt, but we have some very talented and quick underclassmen who’ll be ready to step into their shoes,” Shepherd-Adams said.

Team members were notified in an email about the cancellation 45 minutes before they were set to be dismissed, but not all of them got the message.

“I found out when I walked into [Shepherd-Adams] room after getting dismissed from class,” sophomore Trenton Potter said. “It was disappointing to end like that.”

Potter said he hoped to beat TMP next year.

“I can’t believe I opted out of Scholars Bowl as a freshman,” Potter said. “It feels like a wasted opportunity when I look back and see how much fun I’ve had this year.”

Potter was not the only disappointed team member.

“I was really looking forward to going,” freshman Hannah Norris said. She added that next season she hoped to be on varsity again and answer more questions.

Junior Sarah Rooney had some goals for the next season as well.

“I hope we can grow in our confidence and become stronger as a team,” Rooney said.

14nfeyerherm@usd489.com