Quizmeet at Hinkletown: Quizmatches vs. Maple Grove 1 & Hinkletown 3

 AMEC Bible Quizzing stretched the Stony Brook quiz team's patience as they waited for the standings. After 2 quizmatches scoring 155 points, Stony Brook knew they would finish high on the standings, but they did not know how high. Their quiz coach, Graham Holcomb, estimated 3rd place in their league and 5th overall, but he based that estimate off of previous years. Even during their Thursday practice, the quiz team did not know their standings. Then, once everybody got home from quiz practice, the standings finally appeared on the quizzing website, and Stony Brook found out...THEY WERE 1ST PLACE IN THEIR LEAGUE AND 3RD PLACE OVERALL! Furthermore, the team had 3 quizzers in the top 60: Olivia, Kaylee and Kate. While the team rejoiced over their high standing, they knew that it all meant nothing if they did not put the same amount of work into learning Joshua as the work they put into Job. So that's exactly what they did. They studied Joshua just as hard as Joshua.

The Stony Brook quiz team met at the Keenys for practice that Sunday afternoon...well, 3 of the quizzers. The Metzlers had choir practice, so Kaylee, Lauren and Olivia had quizzing practice. The quiz coach Graham designed quiz practice like a 3-way quizmatch, where each quizzer was their own quiz team. For the first practice match, Olivia dominated, answering 12 of 15 questions correctly! For the rest of the practices, Kaylee and Lauren would catch up. After 4 practice matches, the quiz team had a dinner of beef barbecue, with sides of potato wedges, macaroni salad and grapes. Graham left early to meet up with the Metzlers, so he could ride up with Caleb and Kate to give them questions. The whole team reconviened at Hinkletown Mennonite Church for the quizmeet.

After the worship, the Stony Brook quiz team had to wait 3 rounds before their quiz match. Therefore, Stony Brook did what they did last week and watched their first opponents Maple Grove 1 and Hinkletown 3. The poor Metzler quiz team must have thought that Stony Brook was stalking them because 2 of those 3 quizmatches involved the Metzler quiz team! Watching both future opponents, Stony Brook noticed that both of their future opponents errored a lot, to the point of losing points. This gave the quiz team the hope that they could pick up a lot of bonuses from both teams.

Stony Brook vs. Maple Grove 1

Around 7:30, the Stony Brook quiz team met in the Faithful Servant room for their quizmatch versus Maple Grove 1, with Mark Graybill as the quiz master. Maple Grove 1 began the quizmatch on a strong note. They buzzed in on the first three questions. Fortunately, they only got 1 of those buzz ins correct. Unfortunately, Stony Brook could only pick up 1 of those bonuses, thanks to Lauren. By this time, Olivia must have been frustrated that she could buzz in, as on question 4, she buzzed in and answered it correct! Olivia tried to follow up her correct buzz-in with another correct buzz-in, but she ended up with an error, an error which Maple Grove 1's Dana would answer the bonus correctly. Fortunately for Olivia, Dana would commit her own error, giving Olivia a bonus, which she answered correctly. Up to this point, the match was still close. In fact, Stony Brook had a 10 point lead, 30-20. At this point, however, Maple Grove 1 would take off and take control. Of the 9 remaining questions, Maple Grove 1 buzzed in on 8 questions. Of those 8 questions, Maple Grove 1 would answer 7 of them correctly. That 1 question that Stony Brook buzzed in on would result in an error (bonus picked up by Maple Grove 1), and the 1 bonus Stony Brook got was not answered correctly. With all their correct buzz ins, Maple Grove 1 would earn 2 quiz outs and team bonus. Stony Brook would lose to Maple Grove 1 30-130. Of those 30 points, Olivia scored 20 (1 correct buzz in + 1 correct bonus) and Lauren would score 10 points (1 correct bonus).

The Stony Brook quiz team had to wait for the last round for their second quizmatch of the night. Stony Brook gathered in the sanctuary (their first real life quizmatch in the sanctuary!) versus home team Hinkletown 3, with Sam Beiler as the quizmaster. Hinkletown 3 quizzer Elisabeth started out strong with 2 buzz ins on the first 2 questions. Only the 1st question Elisabeth answerd correctly. The 2nd question was incorrect, and Kate would answer the bonus correctly. Again, Olivia must have not appreciated her inability buzzing in, for she buzzed in on question 3 and answered correctly. Hinkletown 3 would own the next 3 questions, and they would buzz in and answer them all correct. It looked like Hinkletown 3 was taking off, as they took the lead 40-20. Once again, Olivia (possibly out of frustration) buzzed in again and answered it correctly again. She was one away from quizzing out. Speaking of 1 away from quizzing out, Elisabeth of Hinkletown 3 was at the same point. In the attempt to quiz out, she ended up erroring out. All 3 of those errors went over to Kate, and Kate answered all 3 correctly. Yes, Kate quizzed out on Elisabeth's error out. On the very next question, Olivia followed up with her own quiz out, all on correct buzz ins. Up to this point, Kate and Olivia owned the Stony Brook side of the quiz match. Now with Kate and Olivia out, Kaylee picked up a bonus, and Lauren got a buzz in right. After 15 questions, Stony Brook WON 90-65.

Stony Brook vs. Hinkletown 3

While the Stony Brook quiz team did not have any 155-point matches this quiz meet, Stony Brook should not frown at their performance this week. Last year, the quiz team only had 1 quizmatch in which they scored over 80 points. If this quizmeet's Hinkletown 3 quizmatch happened last year, it would have been their 2nd highest score. Combining this year and last year's quizmatches, this is the Stony Brook quiz team's fourth highest scoring match. A quarter-way through the season, Stony Brook has a record 3-2, scored a total of 470 points, averaging 94 points per match. Based off last year's standings, a 94-point average should keep the quiz team in the top 5 of the league, but again, this prediction is based off of last year's standings. More impressive though, Lauren broke her personal score record, Kaylee broke her personal score record, and Kate is a mere 3 right answers from tying her personal score record. And this is all within the first 2 weeks of the quizzing season! Just wait and see what else the Lord has planned for this quiz team! :)

Quizmeet at Hinkletown: Quizmatches vs. Hinkletown 2 & Gehman 2

 The previous week's quizzing had been cancelled due to the snow. In reality, quizzing had just postponed. The material studied for that Sunday, January 31, would be quizzed on the next Sunday, February 7 at 2:00 p.m. Furthermore, the quiz meet location and quiz match opponents had been swapped with the 3rd week. Now Stony Brook would head to Hinkletown to quiz against Hinkletown 2 and Gehman 2. This caused so many problems. Lauren had a choir recital on Sunday, February 7 at 2:00 p.m. Caleb had choir practice that afternoon, too, which, at best, meant he would miss the first quiz match and only make the second quiz match. Furthermore, Stony Brook's opponents changed from 2 equally strengthed opponents to 2 top 10 teams in our league. While the Stony Brook quiz team would appreciate the extra week to study and practice, it looked Stony Brook would have to face off against a 9th place team with only 3 quizzers and and a 10th place team with only 4 quizzers. Well, Jesus be praised, for he would provide solutions to all our problems, and in ways we could not comprehend.

The Sunday morning of February 7 looked a lot like the Sunday morning of January 31. Snow coated the ground. This time, however, it started earlier, and it did not snow as much. While Stony Brook Mennonite Church would transition from an in-person worship service at the church building to an online church service via Zoom, quizzing had not been called off. You know what had been called off though? Caleb's choir practice and Lauren's choir recital. Yes, the Stony Brook quiz team was back at full strength!

The Stony Brook quiz team met at the Metzlers at noon for lunch and practice. They scarfed down tacos, provided by Pastor Brenden and Sarah Colla, while going over rounds of questions. Even without buzzer practicing, the quiz team proved they knew the material. To boost confidence, the quiz team even went over rounds of questions in the car ride up to Hinkletown. Again, their answers proved they knew their stuff. They just had to think and feel as confidence and prove it to themselves.

The Stony Brook quiz team entered into Hinkletown sanctuary to join the rest of the quiz teams in a time of praise and worship, lead by Hinkletown quizzers. After the praise and worship time, the matches began. Fortunately, since Hinkletown does not a large lobby or a lot of large rooms, the quiz team could stay in the sanctuary to watch the matches taking place there. It gave them the opportunity to see 2 other teams quiz against each other. It also allowed them to eliminate questions, for the likelihood of a question asked in an earlier match to be asked in their matches dropped. After watching the first match in the sanctuary, the team exited for the lobby, waiting for their first match.

For the first match of the afternoon, Stony Brook faced off with Hinkletown 2, 9th place in their league, in the fellowship hall. Halfway through the match, it did not feel like Stony Brook versus a 9th place team. Hinkletown 2 had gotten 5 errors, 3 of which came from a single quizzer erroring out. Hinkletown 2 was losing points due to errors, and they had killed a seat. Furthermore, Stony Brook had picked up a majority of those bonuses correctly. It even gave Kaylee her first points, right on question 1! Halfway through the match, Stony Brook was winning the match, 30 to 15. During a time out, the coach reminded the quiz team that the Lord had shown Stony Brook grace and favor, and they needed to embrace it with confidence. Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be. Hinkletown 2 would not slow down, and they would dominate the second half of the match, with 3 quizzers quizzing out by the end of the match. Only Caleb could get in on the Stony Brook side for the second half with a correct buzz-in, giving the team 10 more points. Stony Brook lost the match, 40 to 100.

An hour later, Stony Brook went downstairs to the youth room to quiz Gehman 2. Not only was Gehman 2 in 10th place in our League, they had 2 perfect quizzers (meaning 2 quizzers quizzed out in both their matches last meet). Furthermore, of these 2 perfect quizzers was Hannah Gockley, a 3-time top 50 Bible quizzer and 1-time perfect quizzer (quizzing out every match in a single year). Things did not look good for Stony Brook, yet things were about to look up and fast. On question 1, Hannah buzzed in on an easy question and answered...incorrectly! The bonus went to Kaylee, and she easily got it correct. Hannah would answer 3 of the next 4 question correctly (with Olivia buzzing in and answering correctly to disrupt her flow), proceeding to quiz out at question 5. Now with Hannah done, Stony Brook only had to worry about Elvin, the other perfect quizzer from Gehman. On question 6, Elvin buzzes in on an easy question, and he answers...wrong! The bonus goes to Kate, which she easily answers right. During the next timeout, the coach again reminded the quiz team that God has given them grace and favor, and they need to embrace it. This time they do! On question 11, Olivia quizzes out, earning her first quiz out of the season. Caleb takes the seat. On question 12, Kaylee quizzes out, getting her first quiz out of the season. The remaining 3 quizzers of the team, now feeling confidence, give their coach permission to pull out Kaylee. With 2 questions left, Kate could quiz out in those last 2 questions and Stony Brook could get team bonus on those last 2 questions. On question 14, Caleb buzzed in and answered correctly! (Remember, Caleb should have just arrived at quizzing from his choir practice) On question 15, Lauren buzzed in and answered correctly, giving Stony Brook team bonus! (And remember, Lauren is supposed to be at a choir recital right about now!) Final score: Stony Brook - 120, Gehman 2 - 70. So many firsts happened this match. Olivia and Kaylee got their first quiz outs! Lauren got her first quiz match question correct, and a correct buzz-in at that! Stony Brook got its first team bonus and its first win!

Now that Stony Brook has quizzed 4 matches, Stony Brook has scored a grand total of 265 points, averaging 66 points per match. Internally, Stony Brook has a 3-way tie for its top quizzer, with 3 quizzers having an individual score of 65 points. We will see where that lands Stony Brook on the standings. Speaking of standings, make sure you keep an eye out for all 5 Stony Brook quizzers on the individual standings. Now that Lauren scored points, all of them will be on there!

Possibly our hardest week of the season

Going into week 2, we were entering possibly our hardest week of the season. Part of it we were quizzing on 3 chapters and a bit of a 4th chapter. Half of the material was on 1 Corinthians 7, which had a lot of situational people (like "the man who was a slave before he was called" or "the woman whose husband died" for example). But probably the biggest reason was we had 3 back to back matches. It was take endurance to get through something like that.

The quiz team met at Bonnie Beam's house for practice at 2 PM...well, most of the quiz team. Kristy and Denise were at a bridal shower. We waited a little bit for them by doing a crossword with the keywords in it. It was interesting as we discussed how to spell "puffs" (compared to "poofs"), "physically" and "trivial." We read the material and discussed how to distinguish the lists. I had them practice pronoucing idolaters because some of them were saying "idol-laters" instead of "i-dol-a-ters." Still waiting for Densie and Kristy, I didn't want to begin new questions, so the 4 quizzers did a match going over the questions we missed Wednesday, with 4 question quiz outs. Justin quizzed out on this match. Running short on time, we did a match of new material. Both Meredith and Joy quizzed out on this match of brand new questions! During this match, Kristy and Denise arrived. We put them back into the matches and went back to 3 question quiz outs. In the first, Denise, Joy and Justin quizzed out by question 12, and they were all one the same team! That looked good. The next match not som much. The team of Denise, Joy and Justin errored 6 times, and the team of Kristy, Amanda and Meredith only got 2 of those bonuses right. Those 2 bonuses were the only questions they got. With not enough time for another match, we did one set of round questions, and then had dinner. The Beams cooked us a wonderful dinner of Meatball Sandwiches.

We arrived at Petra around 6:05 PM. The girls had a lot of friends from there so they were scattered about talking to friends. In the meantime, I got us seats in the sanctuary, front and center. Andrew Jensen led the worship team and the whole sanctuary in worship. Then there was announcements, a mini-devotional, and then we were off. The quizzers stayed in the sanctuary to watch Grace & Truth the first round and Hope of the Nations the second round. I went scouting, watching Maple Grove 3 the first round and Ridgeview 1 the second round. I was hearing a lot of questions with the keywords I was using, so I thought that this might be easier for us than last week. Some of the quizzers thought so too. Round 3 came up and we headed to the classroom for our match.

In round 3, we quizzed against Strasburg 2. Travis from Strasburg 2 started off the match was 2 right buzz-ins, putting us behind 20-o right of the bat. On his 3rd question, he errored, giving us a chance for points, but the bonus was dropped on our side. Luckily Denise help pick up the team by answering 3 consecutive questions correctly for a quiz out. That shifted the gears of the match. Strasburg 2 struggled with errors, getting six errors, and losing 10 pooints. Conestoga was quick to pick up the bonuses. Joy got 2 consective answers correct for her first points! Conestoga won the match, 75 to 45.

From the Classroom, we had to run all the way to the opposite end of the church for our next match in the sanctuary lobby. Conestoga was on the left, and Ridgeview 1 on the right. This match was hard and hurt us. Ridgeview 1's best quizzer Shaun quizzed out by question 4. After question 4, Carrissa, possibly their second best quizzer, buzzed in twice in a row and got them both right. It was hard starting a match 55-0. Carissa would later on quiz out on question 10, another buzz in. Conestoga tried their best. Justin would go ahead and quiz out. The 5 point bonus from quizzing out would be soon negated by losing 5 points for our 5 errors on question 14. Conestoga lost that match, 40 to 80.

Once again, we were on the run to the opposite side of the church, as we quizzed in the church's cafe (it was literally a cafe) for our match against Maple Grove 3. I encouraged the team to forget about the last match, and to stay strong and sharp, and to endure. I even tried to change the seating up a bit. We started the first question down by 10, but then we answered the next 4 questions correctly, butting us up 40-10 a third the way through the match. Denise quizzed out on question 8. It got scary on question 11 when Maple Grove 3 was 1 away from team bonus, but instead they errored more, losing 5 points. Conestoga won the match, 85 to 45.

The good news is we were 2-1 for the night in terms of win-loss record. The bad news is that the quizzing standings go by points, and our average to 74 1/3 points per match. But combining the two, even if we won with low scores, the opponenents with won against scored even less than we did. So it will be interesting to see how the standings turn out. Looking ahead in the schedule, we seem to be going from possibly the hardest week, last Sunday, to the possibly the easiest week, with only 2 matches. Hopefully the material will be just as easier so it can give the team a confidence boost.