Quiz Bowl team members with their first place regional trophy. Pictured are, from left, front: Katherine Clowers and Ana Meza; standing: sponsor Patty Qualls, Calvin Wallace, Timothy Neal, Hayley Parker, Nathan Whitlow, Colby Qualls and Amber Rolland.
MEGAN MISNER – Hoof Prints Staff
The senior high quiz bowl team was the “top dog” at the Regional Quiz Bowl Competition on Saturday, Mar. 13. The team members that attended were Hayley Parker, Amber Rolland, Colby Qualls (captain), Calvin Wallace, Nathan Whitlow, Katherine Clowers, Ana Meza and Timothy Neal, score-keeper.
The team received a bye the first game of the day merely by chance. Due to the odd number of teams, five total, a team was chosen to get a bye and that team happened to be BIC. The quiz bowl team battled against Riverside, Sloan-Hendrix and Rector coming out of every game with a win.
Their very first game against Riverside was a close one, but they ended up squeaking it out. Riverside was up by five on question 48 out of 50. But at the very end, BIC answered the final two questions correctly making them 15 points ahead.
After these first three rounds, they determined the tournament play rankings. BIC ranked first. Due to this fact, the team received another bye after the lunch break. After the bye, the team played Sloan-Hendrix in semi-finals. Once again, BIC won; therefore, the team made it to the finals. The team played Riverside again in the finals.
Colby also received the Most Valuable Player award for answering more questions than any player on any team. To celebrate the win and their awarded player, the team went to eat at Brick Oven in Paragould.
Several team members commented on the materials used to study for the event. They referred to the “Yates bible” on numerous occasions.
“Last semester Mrs. Yates gave Colby a book called the Dictionary of Cultural Literature. I opened it and made fun of Colby for reading it, Amber Rolland explained. “Then, when at the junior high quiz bowl tournament, Colby gave it to Mrs. Olive to use for a challenge. I then realized it had everything in it and tried to read as much as I could. Then, the next day I got it from the library. I take it everywhere because it has everything in it. I mean everything. We dubbed it the Yates bible because it is Mrs. Yates’s book,” stated Rolland.
Not only is the quiz bowl team award winning, they have fun while doing it. Wallace stated, “Quiz bowl has been a very good way to make friends on a both intellectual and personal basis.” “I like quiz bowl because we are all having fun and we have a good time because there is always something funny happening,” stated Parker. They also enjoy the actual quiz bowl practices. “I like watching Colby Qualls and Amber Rolland go head to head because they always laugh at each other and make comments during the game toward each other,” stated Nathan Whitlow.
Since the team won first place in the regional competition, they are advancing to the state level. They compete this Saturday, April 10 in Hope, Arkansas. Can they prove to not only be the best in the region, but the best in the state?
