Area Schools Match Wits

WAITSBURG - "If Rov- er is 10 years older than Spot, and next year Rover will be twice as old as Spot, how old are they now?" "In what structure of the body would an arthrotomy be performed?" Questions like these formed the basis of the Knowledge Bowl tourna- ment hosted by Waitsburg and held at the First Christian Church (and surrounding buildings) on Tuesday afternoon.

Teams from six schools - Waitsburg, Dayton, Prescott, Pomeroy, Clarkston and DeSales - attended Tues- day's meet. While all the teams competed against one another at the meet, Dayton, Waitsburg and DeSales are officially in the same 2B league, while Pomeroy and Prescott are 1B competitors. Clarkston attended for the practice.

Waitsburg's Team 1 fin- ished first out of the sixteen teams at the meet, scoring 100 points. Dayton's top team placed fifth with 66 points and Prescott placed 14th with 42 points.

Waitsburg has three teams: an "A" team (Team 1), a freshman team and a newly fielded middle school team The "A" team is made up of E.J. Meserve (captain), Meara Baker, Emma Phil- brook and Hannah Grant. Emily Adams, Jacob Dunn, D.J. Lalka and Landon Callas make up the freshman team. The new Preston Hall team includes Leighton Dorman (captain), Chris Philbrook, Robert Walsh, Cade Branson and Sam Mc- Gowen. Tuesday's event was the first-ever meet for the middle schoolers and Green said they were "very com- petitive," placing 11th against 15 high school teams.

Waitsburg's teams are led by Brad Green who has coached Knowledge Bowl for 16 of his 18 years at WHS. The teams compete monthly and Green says the number of Knowledge Bowl participants varies based on student schedules and outside activities. Currently, about 14-16 students attend morning practices.

When talking with students about what they enjoy most in Knowledge Bowl, camaraderie appears to be the main draw. "The team becomes really tight-knit," said Philbrook.

"There is a lot of jok- ing and you make strong friendships. Not only among yourselves, but with the other teams as well," said Meserve.

"Plus, they're all smart!" said Baker, joking.

Waitsburg's team has a strong track record, competing in the state meet for the last three years. "At the October meet our two teams placed first and third out of 17 teams. Not bad!" said Green who anticipates attending the state meet again this year. "We have some very bright, competitive kids on our team."

Dayton science teacher Doug Yenney coaches four Dayton teams, one from each grade. "We start out by grade and as the season progresses, we mix up the teams based on performance," said Yenney who describes his teams as "fairly competi- tive." Dayton just the missed qualifying for the state meet by a few points last year and made it the year prior.

Prescott social studies teacher Jeff Foertsch is coaching Prescott's teams for his third year. While only one Prescott team attended the Waitsburg meet, Foertsch hopes to field two teams as the year progresses. With Pomeroy as Prescott's only 1B competitor only one school qualifies for state each year. Last year it was Pomeroy.

Green says he believes in Knowledge Bowl for several reasons. "It gives non-athlet- ic students an option for ex- tra curriculars. It emphasizes the academic side of school - I often hear kids say, 'Oh, we just learned that yester- day in science or math or history'. It's so much fun."