By Phoebe Roe

Kenyon’s very own quizbowl team outsmarted its competition to finish ninth out of 32 teams at this past weekend’s Division II National Academic Quiz Tournaments’ (NAQT) Intercollegiate Championship Tournament (ICT).

The team began last year and competed for the first time this past February at NAQT Sectionals, where the team qualified for the ICT. Members then travelled to a Hyatt Regency hotel near Chicago O’Hare airport and, along with other qualified teams, spent the weekend competing in quizbowl.

While the game is still fairly unknown, the idea of quizbowl is simple: think combination Jeopardy! and Village Inn (VI) Trivia Night. Two competing teams composed of one to four players from the same institution face each other and are asked questions by a moderator. The first player to buzz in and answer the question correctly scores 10 or, for an especially early buzz, 15 points for his or her team, and the team with the highest overall score wins.

The team had been training since February for last weekend’s competition.

“I think it’s really important to remember that it’s our first year ever going to tournaments, and it’s our second tournament ever. Considering that, we did really, really well,” said Jacob Griffith-Rosenberger ’16, quizbowl team member.

While the team is very strong as is, it is always looking for new members. “Our goal for the next few semesters will be to recruit more people,” said Gabriel Brison-Trezise, another team member and chief copy editor for the Collegian. The challenge is establishing longevity. Most members are from the class of 2016, so the team needs to recruit members who can carry the team forward when current members graduate.

After last weekend’s impressive performance, however, it shouldn’t be too hard for the quizbowl team to gain notoriety and fame like they do at VI trivia night. “Come to quizbowl practice and you can be on our Trivia team and win gift cards to the VI,” Brison-Trezise said.

The quizbowl team currently practices on Friday and Saturday evenings in the seminar room on the first floor of Ascension. Interested students should feel free to stop by and contact a current member for more information.

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