The Farmington High School Scholar Bowl team had a very successful season this year. The varsity team made it to the district semifinals. Senior Ethan Kerr was selected as an all-district scholar bowl player and the third highest scorer at the district tournament at Cape Notre Dame Regional High School. Overall, this team had a successful season, and a few seniors explained their love for the team and gave a recap of the season as a whole.

Kerr has been on the scholar bowl team since eighth grade. One of his friends asked him to join, and he has played ever since.

“That first year, the middle school team won districts, and ever since then, I’ve been trying to improve and get better at Scholar Bowl,” Kerr stated.

The Scholar Bowl team practices all year long, except May and June. They have practices every Wednesday from six to eight p.m.

“Our typical practice is that in the first hour, we all get handed packets and start over a few distinct areas of focus we’re lacking in, such as asian history or different kinds of rivers, and then we break into groups and practice,” Kerr explained. “Then, at around seven, Dr. Reves starts quizzing the players. Then they have more study time and they practice with a teammate about what they have learned at practice.”

Kerr’s favorite part of the season was not only being selected as all-district, but also the friendships he has made along the way.

“My favorite part of this season had to be making new friends with the new players on the team this year, as well as becoming friends with some of the North County players, who ended up winning districts,” Kerr stated.

Senior Ryker Jones just recently joined the team. He started playing during the spring semester of his senior year.

“I think I have gained a world of experience even in my short time and learned so much thanks to this activity,” Jones explained.

Jones had a fun season.

“The best part of this season was absolutely meeting wonderful people and forming strong bonds of friendship through competition and shared interest,” Jones explained. “As the season goes on, I would definitely say our competitive dominance and carving new history, as this year was the best our scholar bowl team has done in the past half-decade.”

Even though Jones has not been on the team for very long, he has made a lasting impression on his high school career.

“I think what I will miss most of all is the people,” Jones said. “So many lovely people willingly dedicate their time to this, and in the time I have participated, I have met so many of them that when I leave this place in a few short weeks, they will be dearly missed.”

Senior Cianna Clowdus has been on the team since her sophomore year, and she wishes that more people would join, especially if they like or are good at educational trivia.

Clowdus’s favorite part of the season was the last two matches they had. The matches were against North County, and they had to compete against them twice because they made it to the finals.

“We were tied almost the whole game! We put up a great fight against them, and I’m proud of our team,” Clowdus stated.

Her season was filled with great memories, most of which were getting to spend time with her team.

“Another good memory I have is my team cheering me on when I answer a really obscure musical composer question,” Clowdus stated. “I felt really supported.”

“Something I’ll miss about the team is watching silly overviews of Shakespeare on YouTube and laughing hysterically,” Clowdus said. “My teammates are also great to just talk with in and out of practice. This club has great people, and I’ll treasure the friendships I made from it.”

Moving on from a few of the varsity players’ experience from the team, Brian Reeves is the coach of the Scholar Bowl team, and he has been the coach for over 12 years. In his opinion, this was a great season,

“We had a strong season. We finished 3rd in the MAAA, had two all-conference players (Ethan Kerr and Alex Cummings), made the district playoffs, and had an all-district player (Ethan Kerr),” Reeves explained.

This scholar bowl team will have a new leader next year, since Reeves will be retiring at the end of the year. Reeves has been a great coach for the team and has been very influential to many students who have participated in Scholar Bowl. Some of his advice for the upcoming seniors on the team would be, “Work hard. You have the potential to be awesome,” said Reeves.

This team had a great season, they continue to work hard and be successful. The seniors have all had a great time being a part of scholar bowl, and they are sad to leave it behind. If you or someone you know is interested in joining the team, they should reach out to one of the current seniors for information.