A Blizzard of One

View the final standings

Nicholas Schultz, who goes by the name Blizzard T. Husky, is now officially the 2009 Chippens NCAA Tournament Challenge Champion with 192 points, a score that ties the All-Time record for points in a single tournament. He edged out Eric Sturgeon by just one point, the closest finish in Challenge history. Sturgeon has already guaranteed another top three finish next year.

Leta Corwin earned the final prize-winning spot, finishing third with 188 points. Corwin’s 83% pick percentage also put her second on the All-Time list for pick percentage in a single season. Corwin now has two top three finishes in the past three years, and she didn’t even compete in 2008.

I feel bad for MSU and the Spartan fans (I am one, after all), but they must realize what they were up against. It wasn’t North Carolina’s basketball skills so much as it was Nicholas Schultz’s now-all-too-apparent preordination as the Champion of this tournament that did in the Spartans. The fact is that Blizzard T. Husky is not merely a man, he is the Ultimate Man, having won that title in a 13-event competition covered by Chippens in 2001. You simply cannot deny the Ultimate Man his destiny. With his victory, Blizzard now has two top three finishes in the past four years. The question now is whether he can become the first-ever two-time Challenge champion.

2009 was a record-setting year all around. Below, you’ll find the updated All-Time records list. There are many who are new to the lists and many who, sadly, have dropped out.

On Monday, the same day that Schultz won his Championship, Major League Baseball opened its season, so this week over at The Chippens Weekly we asked frequent Chippens competitors Bryan Timm and Matthew Melick, fans of the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals, respectively, to offer their reflections on Opening Day. Check that out while you’re looking up your spot in the final standings.

Thanks to everybody for playing this year; I hope you will all be back in 2010!


ALL-TIME RECORDS (scoring was standardized in 2005):

As of 4/7/09

Most Points in a Single Tournament:

1. 192, Nicholas A. Schultz, 2009
   
2. 192, Tyler Neal, 2007
3. 191, Eric Sturgeon, 2009
4. 188, Leta Corwin, 2009
5. 182, Justin Thompson, 2009
6. 179, Michael Theune, 2009
   
7. 178, Jake Smith, 2005
8. 172, Charles D. Corwin, 2009
   
9. 172, Mike Stump, 2008
10. 171, Lisa Corwin, 2009
    
11. 168, Jeff VanDellen, 2005
12. 165, Leta Corwin, 2007
13. 163, Michael Penney, 2005
14. 162, Adam Emery, 2009
    
15. 162, Rusty Flinchum, 2007
16. 162, Brandon Gamble, 2007
17. 159, Travis Kramer, 2009
18. 158, Liz Reinhart, 2009
    
19. 158, Adam Lombard, 2007
    
20. 156, Brandon Gamble, 2005

Highest Pick Percentage:

1. 84%, Tyler Neal, 2007
2. 83%, Leta Corwin, 2009
3. 79%, Justin Thompson, 2009
4. 78%, Michael Theune, 2009
5. 78%, Charles D. Corwin, 2009
6. 78%, Jason Jackson, 2009
7. 78%, Megan Byrne, 2009
   
8. 78%, Rusty Flinchum, 2007
9. 76%, Nicholas A. Schultz, 2009
10. 76%, Eric Sturgeon, 2009
11. 76%, Adam Emery, 2009
12. 76%, Liz Reinhart, 2009
13. 76%, Mike Stump, 2009
    
14. 76%, Michael Murphy, 2007
15. 75%, Lisa Corwin, 2009
    
16. 75%, Leta Corwin, 2007
17. 75%, Brandon Gamble, 2007
18. 75%, Adam Lombard, 2007
19. 75%, Lisa Corwin, 2007
20. 75%, Jake Smith, 2005

Most Top-10 Finishes Since 2005

1. 3, Brandon Gamble
2. 2, Nicholas A. Schultz
   
3. 2, Leta Corwin
4. 2, Lisa Corwin
   
5. 2, Garrett Davey
6. 2, Michael Penney
7. 2, Adam Lombard
   
8. 2, Tyler Neal

Best Lifetime Average Place Since 2005 (must have competed at least four times between 2005 and 2009; 30 players met that standard):

* - Denotes four-time player (out of a possible five)

1. 9, *Brandon Gamble
2. 16.25, *Leta Corwin
   
3. 16.6, Lisa Corwin
4. 19.6, Mike Stump
   
5. 22.5, *Nicholas Schultz
   
6. 22.5, *Adam Lombard
   
7. 23.6, Charles D. Corwin
   
8. 25.5, *Ryan Horrigan
9. 26, Loren DeHaan
10. 28, Jeff VanDellen
11. 28.6, Mike Penney