Setting the standard of excellence
Quiz Bowl Team captures Big South title
The Liberty University Quiz Bowl Team added a 2011 Big South Conference championship win to their resume this year.
CHAMPS — The team includes (front, from left) Andrea Teachout, Lillian Omaya, Catherine Hardee, (back, from left) Dr. Jim Nutter, Corbin Payne, and Jake Rogers.
Liberty defeated all five teams, including Coastal Carolina, 340-50.
Catherine Hardee was the top scorer who led the team to victory.
Known as the “varsity sport of the mind,” Quiz Bowl is a game where teams answer varieties of questions in two 10-minute halves that relate to sports, history, literature, government, math, pop culture, geography and current events.
During the lunch break, Liberty and Coastal were tied, but Liberty pulled ahead with an outstanding 5-0.
Gardner-Webb took an earlier lead, but Liberty turned it around. According to junior team captain Corbin Payne, the sportsmanship was amazing.
Three bonus questions were mentioned with random toss up questions, similar to the show Jeopardy.
Payne, a team member of three years, said he was highly impressed with Hardee and the team’s achievement.
“This was the strongest showing we’ve made,” Payne said. “It’s one of the best groups that I have worked with, and we mesh perfectly. We dominated Coastal.”
The last bonus question that brought the team to triumph was a pop culture question related to a specific band, and Hardee knew automatically. Hardee, a senior, loves trivia and tried out for Jeopardy twice and plans on trying out again.
Hardee was on the debate team during her freshman year in 2008. She loves random knowledge and the fun of knowing random things.
“I love the fact that we compete amongst ourselves,” Hardee said. “But at the end of the day, we still work together as a team.”
Coach Jim Nutter has been leading the team for six years and is amazed by their performance. The varsity team consists of upperclassmen, four freshmen and two English graduate students.
Each member is intelligent in his or her own category. Payne has a vast knowledge of American history and the Civil War, while Hardee is well versed in western civilization history.
“The Quiz Bowl team has been blessed with brilliant minds,” said Nutter. “It’s been a team effort throughout and it’s also nice to see the freshmen communicate well with the upperclassmen.”
The team defeated North Carolina State University twice during a national tournament at East Carolina University this weekend. Nutter said the team’s newest members, Emily Dowlearn and Meagan Van Engen, helped the team win. The team has seven wins against ACC schools.