College Bowl Finish Recalls Glory Days

The Sagehens of Pomona took third place in regional playoffs of the College Bowl competition last February in Long Beach. Competing against students from 10 schools throughout California, Hawaii and Nevada, the members of Pomona's team were quizzed on their knowledge of a wide variety of academic areas and topics of pop culture.

UCLA won the event, while UC Davis took second place.

In capturing third, the Pomona team recalled an old tradition. In 1961, Pomona students appeared on the televised College Bowl quiz program, and the team retired as a five-time champion.

Pomona's 2002 team was selected following a campus-wide tournament and included members from the winning team (The Funky Bunch) and the four highest scoring players from other teams in the campus tournament. Team members were Nate Fisher '02, Ji Chong '03, Matthew Pierson '05 and Daniel Driscoll '05. Team alternate was Emeliana Duarte '05. The Pomona Sagehens were coached by Joel Perez, coordinator of student activities.

One memorable moment in the tournament came when Fisher buzzed in after hearing only four words of the question in order to give the correct answer: ENRON.

With four of the five team members returning next year, the Sagehens should to be in good position to move up in the standings.

College Bowl aired on national radio and then television from 1952 through 1970. College Bowl competitions are currently held at 350 colleges and universities across the country.

::    ::    ::