The Penn Manor Quiz Bowl Team recently placed in the top 50 in the nation in the High School National Championship Quiz Bowl Tournament.
The event featured 336 teams from across the country and was held May 24-27 in Atlanta.
The Penn Manor team went 6-4 in preliminary matches to make the single-elimination playoff rounds, and then won two games to stay alive and secure a 49th place finish.
Team captain Connor Mayers was recognized for being the 16th highest scorer out of more than 1,600 individuals in the competition.
Penn Manor also competed in the 2019 PACE National Scholastic Championship June 8 and 9 in Reston, Va.
Ninety-six of the country’s best quiz bowl teams participated. After going 1-6 in preliminary rounds, Penn Manor won its next eight straight games to finish 9-6 and secure a 73rd place finish overall.
In addition, Connor Mayers was honored as the eighth-highest scorer among the 400 individuals who participated. He also was presented with the Benjamin Cooper Academic Ambassador Award, given each year to one member of the Quiz Bowl community who “embodies the ideals of academic competition.”
This year was the first time in six years that a Penn Manor Quiz Bowl team qualified for national competition, according to Sallie Bookman, one of the team’s coaches.
“Our team is intensely dedicated to Quiz Bowl and prepares extremely well,” Bookman said. “They are able to pull up information quickly and buzz in early in anticipation of the question, and they are relentlessly positive throughout their matches.”
“Other students have great knowledge but few can pull it up as quickly as this impressive team.”
In addition to Connor, Quiz Bowl A team members include Chad Hoglund, Shane Mosley, Claire DeVinney and Gabe McGough.
From left, Quiz Bowl teammates Shane Mosley, Claire DeVinney, Connor Mayers, Gabe McGough and Chad Hoglund with coach Sallie Bookman.