Irvine High School’s Quiz Bowl team ranked 29th nationwide and 1st in Southern California at the
National Academic Quiz Tournament (NAQT) Nationals in Atlanta, Ga. on Memorial Day weekend.
This was Irvine High’s first showing at the competition, where a total of 240 teams and
1,167 players participated. Irvine’s team consisted of seniors Tim Tang, Shikhar Gupta and Bill Yeh and
juniors Benjamin Chiang, Jeffrey Jeng, and Paul Kim. Club adviser Cora Peck accompanied the group.
“Honestly, I was nervous and not very optimistic,” Peck said. “However, we really exceeded
our expectations. I was really pleased and I’m glad for them that they did well—everyone really
contributed.”
Quiz Bowl is an academic competition in which students compete in teams of four to answer
trivia questions on a variety of topics.
The tournament was divided into a 10-round preliminary stage on Saturday and an
elimination-based playoff stage Sunday. Teams were required to have at least a 6 win- 4 loss record
to move on to the second round, with a record of 7-3 or higher placing them in the winner’s bracket.
“I didn’t even think we would go 7-3 on the first day—that’s actually really good,” Quiz Bowl
president Chiang said. “Only 30 teams [out of 240] are expected to do that well. When I saw how the
team did, it was like we got to show the people who underestimated us that they were wrong.”
After qualifying for the NAQT Nationals with a 4th place finish at the Triton Fall competition
at the University of California, San Diego, the team began preparing for the tournament by
practicing at Thursday club meetings, reviewing old Quiz Bowl questions and studying subjects
ranging from mythology to physics, and geography to pop culture.
“We went because it would be fun,” Tang said. “In anything you do, when you get to a
certain level you want to compete against better teams, to see where you’re ranked out there in the
nation. And we had the opportunity to do it, so we took it.”
The team’s final record was 9-5, which placed them 21st at the tournament and 29th
nationwide accounting for other statistics, including previous record and bonus conversions.
“I was satisfied with the results,” Jeng said. “I thought we might make it to playoffs, but I
didn’t expect us to actually win a game there. We definitely played better than usual, and I’m proud
of how we did.”
The team, which was solidified in 2011 by Peck and Chiang, plans on competing again in 2013, although Chiang says there will be holes to fill
after Yeh, Tang, and Gupta leave for college.
“I’m hoping to do even better next year,” Chiang said. “Definitely.”
Congrats to your team! I remember winning Science Bowl a couple years back~ quite the experience! Just one thing- make your picture bigger, and put it up front; this helps the readers understand what the article is about without reading a single word. Good work!
Hi Sally,
This is a great news story. It follows the inverted pyramid structure, has an effective lead, quotes from a variety of sources, and a picture to accompany the story. One thing I would suggest is adding in a quote from an authority figure (e.g. advisor or administrator) who will ‘validate’ the win. Also, adding more detail about how hard the boys prepared for science bowl will also add more spice to the story. Great job!