On January 31^st, the Presbyterian College quiz bowl team traveled to Longwood University and competed in the Big South Conference Quiz Bowl Championship with an exceptional finish. Dr. Nelson and Dr. Daniel took four students, Naya Martin, Jon Walker, Will Hobson, and Denzel Brown to participate in a competition that is often called “the varsity sport of the mind.”

These students had to be quick to buzz in and answer a wide array of questions that dealt with history, literature, science, popular culture, and sports. PC tied with Radford University for third place but ultimately ended up finishing fourth when Radford beat them in the head-to-head competition.

“Honestly, it was extremely fun! Just being able to meet other teams from other colleges and universities and then competing against them was a wonderful experience. It was also really enlightening to be able to match wits against other colleges to see where you stood against them. Fortunately, it seems that we stand pretty tall!” says freshman Will Hobson.

Since the trivia questions came from many different categories there is no particular systematic way to study for the bowl. Will Hobson states, “The best way to prepare is to learn a wide range of things, and the education here at PC perfectly matches that requirement. With all the wide range of subjects and classes, PC really did prepare me for a ton of the questions asked, and I can’t imagine going against those teams without all the information I’ve learned here so far!”

Regarding preparation and his experiences in the quiz bowl championship, freshman Jon Walker states, “The knowledge comes from class work, but a lot of it is from reading classic novels and watching Jeopardy. We did really well this year, let’s keep the momentum rolling and go Blue Hose!”

This was the first quiz bowl that these students participated in as a team and while Liberty University won, PC had them very nervous in the first half of the bowl. Overall, Will Hobson tied for the fifth highest scorer in the competition.

“It was a great experience as it was my first time. I love the fact that I was able to represent PC with a respectable finish in the championship, given that PC was inexperienced as a group and we were unaware of what to expect. It was a great experience and I look forward to competing again!” says sophomore Denzel Brown. The team looks forward to participating and moving forward in future quiz bowls and showing the Big South Conference academic community PC’s successes and drive in intellectual competition.