UCLA students earned second place in the College Bowl National Championship Tournament, the highest it has ranked in the university’s quiz bowl history.
The team’s high national finish at the tournament, which was held April 26–28 at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kan., came two years after the team became an official academic club. The second-place finish earned the team a $5,000 grant for student life activities on campus.
Cary Porter, senior associate dean in the UCLA Office of the Dean of Students, said the office is proud of the UCLA College Bowl Club and all of its members.
“I think it is amazing how far they have come and how well they have done with so little in the way of monetary support,� Porter said. “Their success is almost entirely due to their excellent development and utilization of outstanding human resources.�
The competing team members were: Joshua McGuffie, 20, a senior majoring in geography from Altadena, Calif.; Jeremy McKenzie, 21, a senior majoring in political science from San Diego; Steve Reeder, 21, a senior majoring in political science from Santa Paula, Calif.; Matthew Sherman, 19, a freshman whose major is undeclared from Mission Viejo; and Patrick Friel, 26, a graduate student in mathematics, who is from Philadelphia.
The five team members are among about 20 regularly participating members of the UCLA College Bowl Club; the total club membership is more than 40.
At the national tournament, the five UCLA College Bowl Club members went 11–4 after the round-robin playoff, and played University of Michigan’s team for a 2-of-3 game, finally clinching second place in the nation. Michigan placed first.
The top 15 teams in the country competed at the tournament. The other participants were Providence College in Providence, R.I.; University of Rochester in Rochester, N.Y.; New York University; University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pa.; Roanoke College in Roanoke, Va.; University of Florida in Gainesville; University of Michigan in Ann Arbor; University of Chicago in Chicago, Ill.; Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis; University of Minnesota in Minneapolis; University of Oklahoma in Norman; University of Arkansas in Fayetteville; University of Arizona in Tempe; and University of Alaska in Fairbanks.
UCLA is among 300 college and university campuses in the United States and Canada that held a campus-wide tournament. In each game, two teams of four players each compete to answer questions in academic subject areas including history, science, literature, religion, social sciences and the arts, as well as sports, current events, popular culture and multicultural topics.
After the campus tournament, a varsity team was selected to compete at the Regional Championship Tournament. UCLA beat USC at a regional tournament held at the California State University, Los Angeles, to advance to the National Championship Tournament.
The UCLA College Bowl Club was founded in February 2000 by Ravi Menghani, and co-founded by Friel and Adam Buchen. The official club was an outgrowth of an unofficial quiz bowl club, which was started about nine years ago.