Name this author who wrote the 1959 play A Raisin in the Sun. Name this American general who commanded a coalition force in a war that lasted approximately 100 hours. This Japanese game similar to chess allows pieces to switch sides after being captured. Pieces in this game are flat and pointed, with kanji written on them to differentiate between piece types.
Were you able to answer any of these questions? If so, St. Pius X’s Academic Quiz Bowl is calling your name. This year, St. Pius participated in three different tournaments. In December, the team traveled to Paul Duke STEM High School to compete in the GATA Trash Bee which consisted of only pop culture questions. Participants were asked about different musicians, sports players, and even TikTok influencers.
Senior Michael Wright made it to the final round for seniors just falling below the cut for the championship. In the Junior division, Avan Prindiville got 3rd and Cullen Hillman placed 2nd making it to the championship. The AQB team participated in their first regular tournament in February where the team placed 5th. To finish the season, they competed in the GATA Large Private School State Championship. After starting 1-3 in the pool play rounds, the AQB team beat Blessed Trinity, advancing them to the semifinals. There they lost in a close match to Westminster.
The team meets every Wednesday where they simulate what a Quiz Bowl tournament looks like. In a match, there are 2 teams of 5 players with one being designated captain. Each of the 20 rounds begins with a toss-up question where the answer is slowly revealed through different clues. Any member of each team can buzz in and answer, but teammates can not confer over what the answer may be. If a player gets the toss-up correct their team will then be asked 3 bonus questions on a different topic.
For these questions, they work together and the captain is the designated answerer unless announced otherwise. If the team gets it wrong or does not answer, the question bounces back to the other team where they must answer immediately to receive the points. Each toss-up question is worth 10 points but if you answer within a certain time you receive a power which is five more points. Every bonus point is worth ten points regardless of the speed of answering it.
“We practice how we play,” said senior member Parker Schofield.
The AQB head coach, Mrs. Marsha Free, said that the team’s best moment was when they were on TV several years ago.
“There used to be a televised competition on WSB-TV called High Q and St. Pius X was represented on this show for many years. It is a bracketed competition, similar to the NCAA basketball tournament, but only 32 teams. We made it to the semi finals and we were up against Marist for a spot in the finals. At the time, senior Jacob Hambrick, Class of 2012, was an amazing player who had the ability to recall answers faster than anyone I have ever seen- he qualified for the ‘Jeopardy College Tournament’ a couple of years later- was on a roll until the final question. Marist buzzed in first, got the answer correct and they were then able to answer all of the bonus questions. We lost by 10 points- it was an amazing match and our Pius kids were lights out incredible!”
The AQB team was founded in 2007 by a group of sophomores who wanted to reinstate St. Pius’ academic team as they had participated on one in middle school. St. Pius then joined the Georgia Academic Association which organizes different tournaments and the state tournament.
In the future, Mrs. Free said that she “would like to see the quiz bowl team grow into a JV and varsity team – freshmen and sophomores make up JV teams and varsity can be grades 9-12. To be able to have both teams would definitely secure the future of quiz bowl.”
So if you are interested in competing or just want to test your knowledge, you should come try out for the Academic Quiz Bowl team next fall.
