Document text
Brain bowlers head to nationals Mail Tribune / Jim Craven South Medford Brain Bowl members hope to be quick on the draw and fast with the facts when they compete in the national championships in June. Team members are, from left, Matt Janes, Jenny Moser, Sam Ingle, Dustin Rotbart, Amanda Henrichs and John Wickre. South Medford High School students say one of their secrets to success is anticipating questions By DAMIAN MANN After brain bowling their way from one victory to another, six South Medford High School students can claim they have the fastest synapses around. Heady after winning the recent Southern Oregon Regional Brain Bowl Final Competition, the students will head to Malibu, Calif., June 13-16 for the National Brain Bowl Competition. Senior Jenny Moser, captain of the Brain Bowl team, foresaw the victory in her mind. "Since my freshman year, my mother has said we would go to the nationals," she said. Separately, any of these brain bowlers would be intellectually intimidating. Together, they become a ganglia of knowledge. And they don't mind being tagged as "brains." "It's OK to be real smart here," said science teacher Stephen Jensen. "It's OK to strut your stuff." During competitions, they respond to challenging questions with rapid-fire answers, but they also have to be the quickest on the draw at pushing the buzzer. "A lot of the strength of the team is how we work together," said Moser. Part of their success comes, senior John Wickre explained, because "we anticipate what's going to be asked." Jensen, who coaches the students along with teacher Becky Kleinhesselink, said, "They can feel the question coming." As team members discussed the secrets to their success, sophomore Amanda Henrichs quipped, "We are a very modest group." Moser says she watches the television game show "Jeopardy" to keep her brain tuned up, in addition to the two practice sessions each week at school. But not all game shows meet with the same endorsement. "I got tired of watching 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire?'" said sophomore Dustin Rotbart. "It's too easy." Questions at the competitions are wide-ranging, from archaeology to history and from current events to Shakespeare. "There's lots of Shakespeare," said junior Matt Janes. Despite their brawny brains, team members admit to being superstitious. Sophomore Sam Ingle draws a small symbol on a page that looks like a cross between a camel and polo pony. "It's modeled after the Ralph Lauren symbol," said Dustin. Before a tournament, each team member must touch the symbol reverently before jumping up and down and clapping. They finish their ritual by letting out a cheer. In the regional championships varsity competition, South Medford defeated Ashland High School 40-18 and defeated Chiloquin High School 53-17 in the finals. Although the South team will lose some key seniors to graduation, there are more brains in the pipeline for coming years. During the recent regional competition, the school's sophomore-freshman team won 47-32 against a team from Illinois Valley High School. Moser jokingly summed up the winning strategy of her varsity team: "We are successful at the Brain Bowl through intimidating, frightening and generally freaking out the other team." And, of course, it helps that they're just plain smart - and proud of it. Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail [email protected] HOW SMART ARE YOU? Following are sample questions given to Brain Bowlers. (Remember, they have only seconds to answer.) 1. What Italian painter, sculptor, architect, engineer and scientist is today remembered as the archetypal Renaissance man? 2. One of the shortest wars in modern history was fought in 1967 between Israelis and Arabs. How many days did this conflict last? 3. What is the last punctuation mark used in the Star Spangled Banner? 4. Norman McLean's novel, "A River Runs Through It," is set in what state? 5. What are the two values of Q in this equation? Q squared - 625 = 0 6. This passage is about what musician? He played pied piper to three generations, but the Grateful Dead's gentle "Captain Trips" died of his own excess in 1995. 7. She was called "most barbarous and degenerate." Name this second of King Lear's unfilial daughters. 8. Actually, the silkworm is not a worm. It is a .... 9. What character from Spanish literature rode upon an ass named Dapple? 10. The Colossus of Rhodes was a massive bronze statue of what sun god? Brain Bowl Answers 1. Leonardo da Vinci 2. 6 3. A question mark 4. Montana 5. -25, +25 6. Jerry Garcia 7. Regan 8. Caterpillar 9. Sancho Panza 10. Helios Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.