(Oakland) The Riverside High School Quiz Bowl team is heading to Nationals.
On Friday, the team will represent their school in a 148-team national competition: National Academic Quiz Tournaments’ Small School National Championship Tournament.
The team, in the Traditional Public School Division, will consist of Daizy Allen, Sam Bernard, Emma Kroon, Clara Martens, Paxtyn Meek, Kort Rieken, Keegan Taylor and Perrin Towne.
Quiz Bowl is a competitive, academic, interscholastic activity for teams of four students. Teams use buzzers to answer questions about science, math, history, literature, mythology, geography, social science, current events, sports, and popular culture.
Captain Paxtyn Meek spoke about what it takes to prepare for competition.
Audio PlayerRiverside has attended the Small School National Championship Tournament two times before. Most recently, in 2024, they made the playoffs and finished in 33rd place.
Audio PlayerThe team is coached by Jamie Meek and Kajsa Myers.
The National Competition begins Friday is Rosemont, Illinois. Tournament results will be updated throughout the three days of competition at www.naqt.com/go/stats/16001.
Paxtyn Meek also noted that they have a fundraising event coming up in May.
Audio PlayerThe event is May 3rd at 6:00 p.m.
In addition to the High School, the Riverside Junior High Quiz Bowl team qualified for Nationals for the first time. The team consists of Finley Meek (Captain), Corretta Olmstead, Chris Garrison, Conner Keiser, and Conor Nilan (Captain). The Junior High team will compete at Nationals May 9-12.
Finley Meek said the team improved a lot over last year.
Audio PlayerConor Nilan said the competition keeps you on your toes.
Audio PlayerThe Junior High team members spoke about what sparked their interest in joining Quiz Bowl, starting with Finley Meek…
Audio PlayerCoach Jamie Meek said the students never give themselves enough credit. The competition averages around 80 questions, and she noted that they are quite challenging.
Audio PlayerCoach Meek is thankful to the school and the community for supporting this program.
