BY DANA JENNINGS
Lions’ Pride Staff Writer

The Saint Leo University Quiz Bowl team went to North Georgia College & State University to compete in a tournament with 13 other college teams including Clemson University, Florida State University and the University of South Carolina. Led by their coach, Saint Leo University Psychology Chair Dr. Kevin Kieffer Ph.D., the team was a respectable 6-7, holding their own against much larger universities.

The Quiz Bowl format is team jeopardy on pure adrenaline, with questions coming fast and difficult.
“It’s about memory, very fast paced,” said Dr. Kieffer.

The games are timed and sometimes come down to the very last question to determine a winner. The two four-person teams face off in a buzzer beater question to try and win a chance at answering a bonus question that the entire team can confer about their answer.

“The bonuses are where most of the points are made,” Dr. Kieffer said.

The team members are Saint Leo University seniors James Samolowicz and Colleen Shanahan, junior Jonathan Till, Sophomore Richard “Mike” Berry, and freshman Kevin Sullivan. New recruits are junior Britton Boney and freshman Michael Gincel. Any interested students should contact Dr. Kieffer at his email or talk with some of the players about their experiences playing on the team.

The Saint Leo University team has its roots with Dr. Kieffer, as he is the founding member and this is the ninth year of its existence. Dr. Kieffer highly recommends the Honors Program for prospective players.

“I’ve really come to enjoy the experience, even though I never played myself,” said Dr. Kieffer.

The captain of this year’s team is James Samolowicz, and next year’s captain will be Jonathan Till.

The team plays local tournaments on a regular basis and usually has one or two trips to bigger tournaments like the most recent one in northern Georgia.