Cross Country runs into trouble at quiz bowl
By Adam Tobin
Appointed members of Earlham’s cross country team had the opportunity to compete in the 12th annual Quiz Bowl last Thursday, a local event sponsored by the Richmond Rotary Club.
Unfortunately, the Earlham coalition was eliminated in the first round.
The team was composed of seniors John White and Evan Fackler, sophomore Sean McGuire and freshman Hannah Santino and was led by Head Cross Country Coach Pat Thomas. This marks the first time in the event’s history that Earlham has sent a team to participate.
The event took place at Indiana University East’s Vivian Auditorium. Entry into the competition was a $100 fee that included a dinner, and first prize was $200.
All proceeds from the event are used for local and international projects of the Rotary Club, according to the Palladium-Item.
Thomas was informed of the event through Frank Carr, Earlham’s Athletic Director, when Carr and Earlham President Doug Bennett were eager to form a school team in order to compete at the event. Kyla Pitts, the president’s assistant and a recent Earlham graduate, was responsible for coordinating the event.
“Frank put out the word to coaches that there was a competition and Pat pretty much responded first and nominated members of his team to participate,” Pitts noted.
17 teams participated in this extravaganza, but the competition was split up into three heats, and the winner of each heat would advance to the proceeding round.
There were a total of 18 questions posed in each round, and each question was worth two points. A total of six rounds were contested before the eventual winner was declared.
Although four members of the cross country team attended, only three members were allowed to participate in the competition at one time while one alternate was only allowed to rotate with another member after each round. Fackler sacrificed himself for the team and sat next to Thomas in the audience for the duration of the event.
Santino was appointed team captain, meaning she was in charge of deciding who was to answer the questions.
The trivia questions covered a broad scope of topics from sports trivia to history. White and Santino noted that the sports trivia questions dated back nearly 50 years ago, emphasizing the difficulty for a team of college students to have knowledge of that era.
Thomas said, “I was impressed with the fairness of the event and the scope of the questions in general, but it certainly helped for contestants to be more elderly as many questions referenced the period from the 1960’s to 80’s.”
White described their performance as “a valiant comeback” when they successfully answered four questions after suffering from a slow start to earn a total of eight points. Although the team scored eight points, it was not enough to beat eventual heat winner Pet Supply Store.
Santino said afterwards, “Overall it was a fun event and we had a good time. Although we were the youngest team there by far.”
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