On Saturday, October 4th, the Garden City Community College Quizard’s team traveled to their first tournament of the season. The tournament was a one-day Straight Tossup/Bonus event, hosted by Neosho County Community College. For this tournament, the Quizard’s split up into two teams: Garden City A & Garden City B. Despite the split, both Garden City teams ended up placing top 5 at the tournament.

The final top rankings of the tournament were as follows:  first place went to Cowley College, second to Garden City Community College A, third to Johnson County Community College, fourth to Garden City Community College B, and fifth to Neosho County Community College A. Other teams participating in the Invitational event were Neosho County Community College B, Coffeyville Community College, and Allen County Community College.  

Neosho’s Invitational Quiz Bowl tournament was originally set for October 18. Due to conflicts, the tournament had to be moved, causing a sense of urgency to settle over the Quizards. Usually, their first tournament is later in the season, so having to prep for a tournament right at the start of October was a challenge. In good fighting spirit, the team took on the challenge, armed with weeks of prep work and practice quizzes to drill on the bus ride to the competition. In preparation for their events, the Quizard team will quiz each other, ensuring their readiness for questions that could be asked during the tournament.  

After prepping, practicing, and arriving in Neosho, the team was ready to compete. Garden City A was able to beat out every team except for Cowley College’s. Though they didn’t win against Cowley, they did exceedingly well in every other round, their most notable face off, against Neosho County B, ending with a score of 580-10. Garden City B also had several winning rounds, with their top round, against Allen County, ending with a score of 330-120.  

Finally, individual medals were given, with two Garden City Quizzards placing in the top 5 of best individual scores. Phybee Madlangbayan was the second highest scoring individual in the competition, scoring 68.06 points per 20 tossups heard. From Garden City B, Veronica McCallum placed fourth in individual scores, earning 52.78 points per 20 tossups heard. Upon returning home both individuals received medals for their achievements.  

With a successful first competition, the Quiz-Bowl team looks forward to their own tournament this December, known as the Snow Bowl. Set to face off against several formidable opponents, the Quizards are in for a challenge!