Two Rockford area schools sending quiz bowl teams to nationals

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Two Rockford area schools sending quiz bowl teams to national championship

Rockford Register Star

Quiz bowl teams from Keith Country Day School and Winnebago High School will play on the big stage Friday as they compete in the National Academic Quiz Tournament in Rosemont.

The competition is a 143-team tournament.

Quiz bowl is a competitive, academic, interscholastic activity for teams of four students. It is the national version of the game that is often locally called Scholastic Bowl. Quiz bowl teams use buzzers to answer questions about science, math, history, literature, mythology, geography, social science, current events, sports, and popular culture.

Keith Country Day has attended the tournament four times, most recently in 2023 when they finished 4-6.

Keith's quiz bowl team comes in with some nationals experience: Kolby David, Mitch Fitton, and Hadley Slawson played the 2023 tournament. Kareem Almonajed and Fitton played the 2022 Middle School National Championship Tournament in Rosemont, and David played in the 2022 tournament.

The team will compete Friday in the Open Division and will be captained by Slawson, who will be joined by Almonajed, David, Fitton, and Niamh Theisen. The team will be coached by Kristin Irene Burns.

Keith Country Day School quiz bowl team top left Hadley Slawson, senior and team captain; Kolby David, senior. Bottom row from left, Kareem Matabazi Almonajed, sophomore; Niamh Theisen, sophomore; Mitch Fitton, sophomore; and Coach Kristin Burns.

More:Keith School coach named Coach of the Year

Winnebago High School Scholastic Bowl at the IHSA Regional tournament. The players, left to right, are Hayden Allen, Riley Story, Micah Lyons, team captain Charlotte Mahers, Carson Jacobson, Kailyn Myers, Linnea York, and Merrick Hill.

This will be Winnebago's first time attending the Small School National Championship Tournament. The team qualified to compete in 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017 and 2014 but was unable to attend.

Winnebago's team also has national experience. Merrick Hill, Carson Jacobson, Charlotte Maher and Riley Story played the 2022 High School National Championship Tournament in Atlanta, Georgia.

The team will compete Friday in the Traditional Public Schools Division and will be captained by Maher, who will be joined by Hayden Allen, Hill, Jacobson, Micah Lyons, Kailyn Myers, Story and Linnea York. The team will be coached by Kristin Strey.

Tournament results will be updated throughout the three days of competition at .

The tournament, held at the Hyatt Regency Oôôֱ��Hare in Rosemont, is open to the public, and spectators are welcome to attend at no cost.

Chris Green is a Rockford Register Star general assignment reporter. He can be reached at 815-987-1241, via email at cgreen@rrstar.com and X .