It is no secret that I am not a big fan of the format of the Marquette Manor Bible Quiz tournament. Nevertheless, it has traditionally been a tournament with great attendance from top teams. This year, however, was a rather low key tournament. Without Woodside and Old Paths; the high profile teams were down to few.
While I usually do not evaluate Round Robin performances, because it plays such a large role in this tournament, I am forced to do so. After seven round robin matches, three teams were left– Schaumburg, Faith Clinton, and Mukwonagoyet. And here’s how they got there.
Capitol City and Schaumburg met in round 4, both being previously undefeated and coming off substantial wins. Capitol City started off by answering the first two questions, and then Schaumburg went on a huge run. By question 20, Eric David had quizzed out for Schaumburg, and they had scored over 300 points. Schaumburg and Mukwonago met up in round 5. Mukwonago jumped out in front early and managed to hang on for the win. They launched a balanced attack through the first ten questions with every team member jumping and almost all of them answering at least one. Schaumburg made one run to try to catch up, but failed as Mukwonago answered one question in the final five to seal it.
Mukwonago then had a head-to-head battle with Faith Clinton. Faith Clinton got ahead early and never looked back. Leaving Mukwonago with a loss and Faith Clinton as an undefeated powerhouse. However, would they be able to maintain an undefeated profile?
Round 6 brought the last unbeaten team to battle with Schaumburg. Faith Clinton and Schaumburg had a thriller, in what would be a finals preview. Eric O’Brien for Faith and Eric David for Schaumburg answered the first 8 questions trading off back and forth question by question. After five more questions, Eric David had quizzed out and Schaumburg had an 80 point lead. Faith Clinton came rallying back and tied the game at question 18. Schaumburg was able to hold on for the win, giving the last undefeated team its loss.
Ending the round robin rounds, the quiz master committee had to determine the number one, two, and three seeds. Since each of the three big teams had a loss, it went down to the point totals. Schaumburg received the one seed scoring 1800 points in the 7 rounds. Faith Clinton got the second seed scoring 1650 in the 7 rounds, and finally Mukwonago got third with 1380 over the 7 rounds. Schaumburg received the by, and Mukwonago and Faith Clinton both won their semi finals to make it three team show down for the finals.
The first final round saw Schaumburg take its second middle of the day. Faith Clinton took the high and Mukwonago was eliminated. The final round was almost of repeat of round 6, with some different twists. The first five questions were hotly contested between the two teams, but then Schaumburg made another big run, capping with Eric David’s quiz out on question 12. They were up 180-60, and victory seemed eminent, but that was not the case. Schaumburg answered question 14, and that was it. Faith Clinton went on a huge run led by Eric O’Brien. Jennifer Payne jumped on question 20 for Schaumburg and errored, giving Michigan the victory. They made a 7 question uncontested run, and deservingly claimed the first place prize.
Tournament Notes:
(1) Woodside’s Junior High team beat Schaumburg’s Junior High to win the first place trophy in that division. Woodside’s Junior High was undefeated.
(2) Schaumburg’s Rachel Payne quizzed out 4 times in the Junior High division out of 10 rounds.
(3) Faith MI averaged 240 points per round in the SH division while Schaumburg averaged close to 260.
(4) Eric David quizzed out 8 times for Schaumburg out of 9 rounds.