Quiz team grabs second in academic bowl
The Warren County High School quiz bowl team once again proved its academic prowess, capturing second place in the 16th annual WCTE-TV Academic Bowl.
Led by top scorer Nathan Maxwell, the local team defeated competitors from across the public television station’s Upper Cumberland viewing area in the 14-team, double-elimination tournament before falling to Cookeville High School in the final round.
To finish in the top two, Warren County team members had to successfully answer questions from a broad range of academics including, but not limited to, science, history, current events, sports, the arts, pop culture, literature, foreign languages and PBS programming. In a sport where many of the competitors know similarly large amounts of knowledge and trivia, academic bowl matches are often won by teams who can answer the questions the fastest.
According to station programming manager Donna Castle, the WCTE Academic Bowl was created when the Cookeville-based station first went on the air. The idea was to attract people to watch the station by putting their kids on TV.
“But what we found was people really liked the program, so we kept on doing it,” Castle said. “We’ve found that even today both young and old enjoy the program and like seeing if they can answer the questions too.”
She added the station is glad to air the competition and that it is important to recognize students who excel in academics, not just athletics, as our society is apt to do.
High school quiz bowl co-coaches Clark George and Derek Mullican were pleased by the performance. “The amount of knowledge these students know is simply amazing,” said Mullican. “They put on a stellar performance and are a credit to Warren County High School and the entire community.”
George said he was particularly impressed by the large margins of victory the high school team posted over its opponents. In a majority of its matches, the team won by at least 100 points.
“The team from Warren County is to be commended for their finish, their sportsmanship and their enthusiasm,” said tournament director Becky Magura. “They always do very well in our tournament and we really enjoy having them participate.
WCTE-TV, which airs locally on Charter Communications Ch. 10, began airing its academic tournament matches last Monday and will continue to do so every week day at 5 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. through May 20.
The Warren County quiz bowl team can be seen in action on the following days: April 29, May 5, May 16, May 17 and May 20. The entire tournament will be re-aired at 2 p.m. on weekdays beginning in June.