Team with all the answers also going to Atlanta for another competition

The Eagles Quiz Bowl teams placed 66 out of 96 high school quiz bowl teams this past weekend in Chicago.

The Eagles had four wins against six losses against other high school teams from across the nation. The SoBoCo students qualified for the competition by placing second in the Tri-County Conference Quiz Bowl.

SoBoCo Quiz Bowl team members include: front row from left, Cole Hammett, Kelton Turner, Lauren Gateley, Gage Crum; back row from left, Chris Felmlee, Logan Anderson, Ben McKane, Daniel Smith and Dalton Lodge. Not pictured Katy Parsons, Heather Dougan, Erica Felmlee, Ethan Shumate and Matt Alston.

For all of the students in the competition, it was exciting – for a few, more exciting than going to prom. Quiz bowl teams use buzzers to answer questions about science, math, history, literature, mythology, geography, social science, current events, sports, and popular culture. The matches feature a blend of individual competition and team collaboration, since no individual player is likely to be an expert in all subject areas.

“It was a great time and I would have rather been there with my friends on the Quiz Bowl team competing,” said senior Lauren Gateley.

The Eagles team will compete in Atlanta later this month, according to sophomore Ben McKane.

“Mrs. (Justine) Rogers is just a fantastic Quiz Bowl coach,” McKane said.

The Eagles competitors described the experience at the national meet as “more intense” and “very fast-paced.”

Each competition included 24 questions – plus bonus questions – in an 18-minute format. Individually, Logan Anderson was 64th out of 550 competitors and Ben McKane was 72nd.

The Eagles competing included Matt Alston, Logan Anderson, Chris Felmlee, Lauren Gateley, Ben McKane, and Katy Parsons.

SoBoCo participated in a similar tournament in 2017 and was 4-5 in the competition.