NW and NE teams fare well in bowl
by Matthew Navy, reporter

    NW and NE campuses’ College Bowl teams placed in regional competition earlier this month.

    The College Bowl 2001 Region 12 Tournament, held the weekend of Feb. 16 in San Antonio, consisted of a sixteen-round competition.

    According to Dr. Paula Vastine-Norman, director of NE student services, the College Bowl is a game like Jeopardy, in which separate teams are asked knowledge questions that they must answer to score higher points than the opposing players.

    A toss-up question, where players’ skill and quickness decide which team gets the point, is given to both teams. If a team correctly answers the toss-up question, then a bonus question is given to that team only. The process is repeated until the end of the game.

    “We did remarkably well against major universities,” she said about the TCC teams.

    The NE and NW campuses were the only two-year colleges to compete in the tournament, Vastine-Norman said. The TCC teams competed against 12 other schools including the University of Texas, Rice, A&M, Arkansas and Houston University.

    The NW team, sponsored by Dr. Laura Matysek Wood, NW professor of history/government, compiled a 7-6 record, placing sixth and winning against Texas Tech, Centenary College, Henderson State and many other four-year schools.

    “It’s a tremendous experience for TCC students,” she said. “The competition is great because it gives our players a chance to compete with four-year students from around Texas and other local states.”

    The NW team consisted of Brian Cervantez, Richard Baker, Russell Roberts, Rhett Wilmot and Laura Foster. Cervantez, the team captain, was the highest individual scorer, finishing number seven in the tournament. He was also the highest individual scorer among both campuses’ participants.

    The NE team finished with a 5-8 record, placing ninth in the tournament and beating out many state universities. The team members included Joe Griffith, Steve Comer, Steve Curry, Carla Hoag and Gary Hetrick.

    TCC’s competitors consisted mainly of juniors, seniors and some graduate students.

    Opposing teams said they were shocked to realize that the TCC students were only freshman and sophomores.

Both teams hope to return next year with an even bigger award. Next year’s Regional Tournament will be held at the University of North Texas in Denton.