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| The AHS Quiz Bowl team will compete for its third state title on live television on Saturday, April 26, at 1:30 P.M. |
The Arkadelphia High School Quiz Bowl team will compete for its third
state title on live television on Saturday, April 26, at 1:30 P.M. AETN will
broadcast the state finals from their Conway studio where Arkadelphia will face
Maumelle High School for the 4A championship in what head coach Steve Patterson
said should be a “very evenly matched” contest.
“What it will boil down to will be which team positions themselves
best for the different categories of questions,” team captain and AHS senior
Noah McMillion said.
A quiz bowl match consists of four rounds where a team of four
players competes against one opposing team to answer questions in a competition
similar to Jeopardy. The questions are categorized by subjects, which range
from entertainment and pop-culture, to Greek mythology and quantum physics.
“The questions are made up of material included in the Arkansas
frameworks,” Patterson said, meaning that any senior-level Arkansas high school
student should be able to answer the questions since the information is
contained within the state department’s curriculum frameworks.
Of the four rounds of play, the first and fourth are “toss-up”
rounds with 20 questions. The individual team member who sounds his or her
buzzer first must answer that question. In rounds two and three, team members
may confer with each other before answering.
“Most teams have one person who is their star and answers most of
their questions,” Patterson said, “but we have several strong players."
Twelve players fill a team’s roster, and once regional play begins,
a team must continue to use the same 12 players through state-level
competition. AHS’s roster includes four seniors: Dalton Huerkamp, Seth Daniell,
Devan Moses, and McMillion. Daniell and McMillion were named to this year’s all
tournament team. Sierra Westberg, Julie Williams, Matt Savage, Tyler Sanders,
Kaleb Reid, Chase Masters, Johnathan Miles and Race Craft complete the
12-player team, which, according to Patterson, “Shares a variety of backgrounds
and personal talents which contribute to their knowledge of different subject
areas.”
“We are really good with fine arts and physics,” Patterson said.
“But the team members all have a diverse knowledge-base, and they compliment
each other well.”
Teamwork is a critical aspect of the game, but remaining unaffected
by the pressure of being put on the spot in front of peers and judges present
the biggest challenge aside from actually answering challenging questions
correctly.
“[In Quiz Bowl], you can't be bothered by being on the spot and potentially making mistakes in front of others. That will be a little harder on live TV.”
-Noah McMillion, AHS senior and Quiz Bowl team captain
“Enjoying working together is more important than anything,”
McMillion said of the team’s chemistry, “but you also can’t be bothered by
being on the spot and potentially making mistakes in front of others. That will
be a little harder on live TV.”
Where some extracurricular activities may teach a concept that can
benefit a student with classroom work, such as a volleyball player developing a
strong work ethic that she can apply to doing homework; quiz bowl reinforces,
or even increases, actual classroom learning.
“We constantly find ourselves in a quiz bowl competition answering
questions from something we just covered in class, or,” McMillion said, “we
hear something in class and think ‘that’s likely to come up later [in a
competition]’.”
Just as athletes often go beyond what is asked of them during
practice or strength training, AHS’s quiz bowlers are putting in extra effort.
“We all go out of our way to study topics on our own,” McMillion
said, “out of a personal interest in the subject, as well as being a better
quiz bowl player.”
Team members cited their experience in band, G.T. classes, and
personal reading as the top contributors to their understanding of the more unusual
topics.
“I’m very proud of this year’s team,” Patterson said. “We are very
excited to represent AHS.”
Saturday’s other finals include Benton versus Greenwood in 6A, Morrilton versus Watson Chapel in 5A, Episcopal Collegiate versus Fountain Lake in 3A, Cedar Ridge versus Hazen in 2A, and Haas Hall versus Lisa Academy in 1A.
Saturday’s other finals include Benton versus Greenwood in 6A, Morrilton versus Watson Chapel in 5A, Episcopal Collegiate versus Fountain Lake in 3A, Cedar Ridge versus Hazen in 2A, and Haas Hall versus Lisa Academy in 1A.
