Quick -- what winter sport started on the frozen canals of Europe in the 17th century? What’s the name of the painting that depicts St. Augustine and St. Stephen escorting a pious man to heaven?
These were among the questions the Stanford College Bowl team answered to win the National Quiz Tournament at Vanderbilt University in April.
To get to the finals, Stanford’s four savants endured 17 grueling rounds of questions covering everything from particle physics to pop culture. The key match was the ninth, when Stanford bested Harvard, 370 to 260. “We not only beat them, we wasted them,” says senior Rachel Marshak. “We thought, ‘Wow, we can really do this.’ ” Stanford went on to crush the University of Chicago in the final round.
To prepare, the players met twice a week to quiz each other with puzzlers from previous tournaments. Junior Adam Kemezis says the atmosphere was relaxed: “It’s not a high, rarefied-air kind of thing.” Rounding out the crew were senior Alan Taber and doctoral student Jesse Molesworth.
Oh yeah -- the sport that began on frozen European canals is speedskating. And the painting is El Greco’s “Burial of the Count Orgaz.”
