Thomas County Central High School Quiz Bowl team has correctly answered its way to national competition.

The team has qualified to compete in the National Quiz Bowl Tournament this May. Members are Luke Jackson, Kyle Clark, Jason Weeks, Mikayla Jordan, Vince Wynn and Daniel Winchester.

“I’m really excited about advancing to nationals,” member Vince Wynn said. “It confirms that the hard work and dedication put in by this team paid off.”

Wynn enjoys “the sense of team” members have for each other and how they support each other during contests, whether they win or lose.

He describes Quiz Bowl as “an academic trivia competition” that is “similar to ‘Jeopardy.’”

“It requires a wide range of knowledge from literature to pop culture,” he said. “Quiz Bowl is an extremely rigorous intellectual competition.”

Sponsor Amy Ponder said the team “has impressive knowledge on the areas of art, science, history, and geography.”

“I am so very proud that TCCHS has six of the most knowledgeable and intelligent students on this team,” she said. “They are all products of great parenting and teachers who have expanded their knowledge and stressed rigor in their academics. I feel that every teacher that taught any of these students have had a part of how they have accomplished getting to nationals.”

Member Mikayla Jordan joined the team this year.

 “I know a lot of random trivia,” she said. “So when those questions come up, I just happen to know the answer.”

Ponder explains an event is like a “round robin team v. team” where each team is comprised of four members per match.

“It involves ‘buzzing’ in before the competitor when giving the correct answers on these ‘toss ups’,” she said. “Your team has the advantage of answering (without buzzer timing) three more bonus questions. Some factors of speed and pronunciation can factor into success.”

National Quiz Bowl Tournament will be held May 27-29 in Dallas, Texas.

Jordan said the team practices twice a week to run through questions and do mock matches. She is excited about the team’s opportunity to compete at nationals.

Ponder said the team will face larger schools with multiple teams, some that have been to nationals every year.

“We can only hope that our repetitive practice and competitive nature will help us come back with something to show for all of our hard work,” she said.