Ten student members of NMU Quiz Bowl competed at the recent sectional tournament in Minneapolis. They were divided into three squads that entered different levels of competition. The highest finish was NMU’s B team, which placed 7th out of 14 schools in Division II. The NMU A team finished 4th among fewer teams in Division I. The C team, composed of brand-new players, finished 13th. NMU Quiz Bowl is coached by Michael Joy, modern languages and literatures professor.

“I’m very proud of all of them,” Joy said. “It’s a wonderful group of students and they work really hard. They were playing against some of the best teams in the country from schools much bigger than Northern. To compete the way they did is impressive. We qualified for nationals two years ago. I’m not sure if we’ll be going this year. Results from all 12 sectionals around the country are pooled together and they use a mathematical formula to rank the teams.”

In individual scoring, Paul Flaminio on NMU’s A team finished 5th in Division I with 32 points per game. Annika Peterson on the B team finished 8th in Division II with 39 points per game.

NMU Quiz Bowl is a campus organization open to any student, with practices one to two times per week. The team will host its first-ever intercollegiate tournament at NMU on Saturday, April 2. This will be the first opportunity for NMU to face off against the newly formed Michigan Tech quiz bowl team.