Indiana Area Senior High School

Quiz Bowl

By FIONA MURPHY – As soon as he buzzes in, the board lights up, indicating to the moderator that Indiana is prepared to answer.  Vince Birch assuredly calls out, “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” in response to the lengthy, difficult clues about the painting.  Ten points are awarded to Indiana.

Think you know everything there is to know about trivia? Many of IHS’s most widely-recognized trivia masters are put to the test during quiz bowl season when they have an entire team relying on them, competitors across from them, and most dreadful of all: a time limit.

This year’s IHS quiz bowl team has been very successful in numerous competitions- the latest one being the Battle of the Burgh XX hosted in the Cathedral of Learning by the University of Pittsburgh on March 25th.  In light of their success at these various competitions, the Indiana Senior High School quiz bowl team will be attending the NAQT High School National Championship Tournament from May 26-28 in Atlanta, Georgia. Junior Vince Birch, captain of the IHS quiz bowl team, said, “This year has posed challenges with the graduation of strong seniors, but with the multitude of young talent, the future is looking extremely fruitful.”

This season, the team has competed in prestigious competitions in the Pittsburgh area including the Mellon Bowl XIV at Carnegie Mellon University, Hometown High-Q at Gateway Center, and Counties at Blairsville and Armstrong high schools. Junior quiz bowl competitor Shreya Bharadwaj stated, “Quiz bowl poses many challenges considering the breadth of topics, yet it is quite enjoyable because you learn a lot.”

Quiz bowl is a highly academic, interscholastic competition that holds meets throughout the school year. The quiz bowl questions cover a wide range of topics- from the entirety of the high school curriculum to sports, current events, and pop culture that are assessed on both an individual and team level. Freshman Tyler Pruitt stated that he specializes in, “math of all levels, biology, human anatomy, and basic chemistry” and that being a freshman on the team is, “…a little daunting.  It’s not a group activity- there are things expected of me on the team.  The pressure is a bit greater because I haven’t had the classes and experience of the upperclassmen.”

IHS quiz bowl has gone to Nationals for the past three years and has historically placed around the middle of the top teams in the nation.  This year, they will be matched against the top 280 teams in the nation in Atlanta.  IHS is proud of its commitment to academic achievement and excellence, evident in the prestigious ranking of the quiz bowl team.

 

[Photo by Margaux Marcus]

The IHS quiz bowl team continues its run of successful seasons. First Row (left to right): Dominic Ciocca, Grant Sharp, Mr. Michael Bertig, Carrie Smith, and Joel Moore. Second Row: Alex Fefolt, Vince Birch, Jacqueline Sprenger, Tyler Pruitt, and Shreya Bharadwaj

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