Earlier last week, there was yet another House showdown: Quiz Bowl. Casey was trailing by 1 point behind Romero House heading into the competition, but took back the lead after a tie-breaker. The final standings were Casey in first place, followed by Romero and Kolbe, with Teresa in last. After the Quiz Bowl, Casey led with 68 points, Romero followed with 65, Kolbe held third with 58 and last year’s House champions, Teresa, were in last with 52 points. “As soon as they move me to Teresa House, we start losing,” said Mr. Steen, expressing disappointment over “lackluster” performance.

Question categories ranged from chemistry to theater, with CC faculty questions following up each round. After the final round, Casey and Romero House were tied for first and a tie-breaker was called. This year’s tie-break question was, “What is the population of Traverse City?” Whichever team got the closest answer without going over would win. Casey House was the victor as the only House which didn’t go over, guessing 12,000 (the correct population being 15,800 people).

Mr. Aldrich noted it was a good showing from Romero, even if it wasn’t the best outcome. He said even though first place would have been nice, “this is one of the first years we haven’t been last in Quiz Bowl,” so Romero still had a strong performance.

Later in the week we had the mattress relay, another popular annual House competition. After the attendance competitions and Homecoming spirit  days, Romero overtook Casey to lead by one point heading into the mattress relay. After some hard fought mattress runs, Romero beat Teresa in the first round to take on Casey, who beat Kolbe in a photo-finish. Romero beat Casey, drawing out their lead to 2 points in the House Cup. Teresa beat Kolbe to take third, but it was not enough to overcome their point deficit in the overall cup. As of now, the standings are Romero in first place with 100 points, Casey in second with 98, Kolbe in third with 86 and Teresa with 79.