Over the past four months, Mercy’s Quiz Bowl team has competed in four Intercounty Quiz Bowl League (ICL) East meets. Next week, the team will face its toughest competition yet at the grand finale tournament at Novi High School where they will play against teams from the west division of the ICL for the title of League Champions.

The ICL East consists of teams from various schools across the Metro Detroit area, including U of D, Country Day, International Academy, Thurston, Farmington, Frankel Jewish Academy, and Brother Rice. These teams play against each other in league meets at three different levels: novice, JV, and varsity. This year, Mercy was fortunate enough to house two novice teams, Mercy Maroon and Mercy Gold. Both novice teams have a record of 3-7 which places them in fourth and fifth place in their division. Quiz Bowl moderator Mrs. Lauren Marquard is pleased with this outcome for the novice team.

“Our novice teams finished midway which is a great start,” she said. “Our JV team finished in the same place last year, so I’m very hopeful.”

Mercy’s JV team had the most success this season with a record of 11-1, placing them in first place out of 10 teams. Considering the fact that this team only has four members, this is an impressive feat, as expressed by sophomore Rachel Vinarcik.

“I think Quiz Bowl was really great this year because we finished first place in our division on our side of the league,” Vinarcik said. “I was really proud of our team, especially since we have two new teammates. I think they really rose to the occasion well, and I’m just really proud of the JV team this year.”

Finally, the varsity team faced a tougher season this year as they also only had four team members, and two of them were brand new to the activity. Nevertheless, they managed to pull out a victory and also greatly improved over the year. By the end of the season, the team was able to answer more questions correctly and played much closer games. This is an accomplishment in itself, since the Quiz Bowl team underwent a revitalization this year under two new moderators.

“It’s my first year coaching the team, and my goal was to help grow the team from last year,” Latin teacher and Quiz Bowl moderator Mrs. Lauren Marquard said. “I think we’ve accomplished that by getting a lot more people involved.”

With new members, moderators, and a winning JV team, the Quiz Bowl team is looking forward to a successful wrap up meet and next season. Practices every week allow team members to learn new information, bond with teammates, and improve as a team. Keeping this in mind, students are eager to put in the work to get better with each meet.

“Last year we only won three out of 10 games, and this year we won 11 out of 12,” said sophomore Lili Omilian. “That just goes to show that with a little hard work, you can do anything.”