While the FQA has been around since 1997, an August monthly event is a relatively new concept. Previously, it was actually held in July, so technically, this could be considered the first. At any rate, with the arrival of a new Division (I-85) the teams down south came Wednesday with the goal of beating the best of those Northern teams in the Finals at the end of the year. Since school had not yet started for a couple of schools, the churches seemed to have the advantage. Here are the teams.
TMA:
TMA’s boys team actually was hampered because school had started for the legendary Bell brothers. TMA’s girls team was hampered by a student getting her Driver’s License, so they combined forces. As it turned out, TMA had three quizzers who did not quiz over John at all. They made up for this by actually learning the verses (take note O’Dell and Heuslein). They had two quizzers in the top 10 for the day, and both were girls leading coach Jordan Bond to prognosticate that the Girls team might be better this year. Of course, the Boys team has three members of last year’s great team (including the guy who scares every team north of the Florida border so much they seek to eliminate him). TMA’s shorthanded team finally did them in, as they were eliminated on the final question in their Playoff matchup with the Austin Family.
Austin Family:
Speaking of the Austin Family, it seems like these guys just keep getting older. While Paul has been first team All FQA material for two years, Rachel has quietly become a very good quizzer herself. Rachel was a top 5 quizzer in August, also. Some predict the demise of the Austin Family upon Paul’s graduation, but Rachel may be good enough to keep them competitive for a couple of years, and some say that Victoria and Susannah may be the best two eventually. Now, that is scary!! As mentioned, they eliminated a feisty TMA team, but the FBC team with the Carbonell sisters proved to be too much.
Open Door:
Open Door’s high school students all chickened-out, leaving the Middle School students to defend the good name. While they struggled through the Round Robin portion of the day, they came back in playoffs and eliminated a FBC-CF team. They are the only team that can claim that!! Open Door’s High School students may come back and have a great year, but they will always be a month behind the Middle School team in my book.
FBC-CF:
As Matt West said when they lost FACCS by one letter last year, this team will come back and be a potential AACS champion next year. Like the Bulls struggled to beat the Pistons, and then when they finally did, noone could stop them, so has FBC-CF been with TMA. Two years in a row, they lost their last quiz of the year to a Jordan Bond-led TMA team on Question #21. In 2002, it was the FQA Finals, while in 2003, it was FACCS. This team was so motivated that they brought Three good teams to August’s first monthly event.
The first team was led by Breanna Richardson, who is determined to learn at least 1006 of the verses in Acts. Even with somewhere around 12 chapters already put away, she was able to focus on 1-5 long enough to carry her team to a winning record in the Round Robin portion. In the playoffs, however, her team struggled with errors. Unfortunately, they were put out by Open Door, but they allowed another FBC-CF to avenge their loss quickly. However, both Webster siblings, John and Elizabeth, are on this team and everyone knows that you can’t keep them down. Elisabeth Thomas and Jessica Jones round out the top 5. You can bet that this team will be ready next month!
The second team (actually called team #3) was led by the Carbonell sisters. The two sisters won the FQA’s Independence Day Spectacular, and they ran through the Round Robin without a loss. Paige Warren, Praiselynn Santos, and Miguel Leonardo all contributed questions to this team, making them even stronger than would seemingly be necessary. As they rolled all the way through the Semifinals, they looked untouchable. Then they met the team below in the Finals and amazingly lost on the last question. We thought FBC-CF losing on the last question was over. This is bad news for any team coming on Saturday to the I-85 event. I know Abby well enough to know that she doesn’t like to lose twice in the same week! Look for them to beat all comers in that event, but as for this event, read on.
The Santiago Brothers! What more can you say. Coming off a disappointing loss in the Independence Day Spectacular, they were very motivated to turn it around. Ashlee Gunsales and Luke Brigham were also on this team. All four of them were dynamite this month. They lost once in the Round Robin to the team “coached” by Mr. Carbonell, but Rachel Brigham, the coach here, did not lose sight of the goal and led them to ultimate victory in the event. Can they repeat in September? Check in to find out.
Such a great tournament and perennial powerhouse Hobe Sound was still celebrating a South Florida summer. CFCA and CPCS also should return in September. Neighborhood Alliance and Community in Stuart are both planning to attend in September, so it promises to get even better. QuizMaster Matt West said, “The competition down here is getting better every year. There is only one thing that disappoints me and the coaches will fix that next time.” Longtime QuizMaster Tiffany Suddeth believes that these students may be the deepest Florida corps yet. If Matt has his way, one of them will win every single I-85 event.