Darin Clayton

Darin Clayton
Current college	Harrisburg High (2019-Present)
Stats	HDWhite • NAQT

Darin Clayton is a high school quiz bowl player for the Harrisburg Bulldogs in Missouri. Becoming captain of the Bulldogs in his freshman season, Darin quickly took the Lewis and Clark Conference by storm. In his sophomore season, Darin took home top honors by being named the Lewis and Clark Conference 1st team Captain. That same season, Darin was also named to the All District 2nd Team. Darin would later repeat his 1st Team Captain selection and add an All-Tournament 1st Team Captain award in his junior season. Darin is known for his strong knowledge of pop culture, sports, and social sciences, in addition to a large amount of knowledge in literature and fine arts. His methods of gaining knowledge have been described as 'unorthodox' and 'insane'. As of this writing, Darin is leading Harrisburg in a way that has not been seen in years and establishing a winning culture at HHS.

Freshman Year; Rocky Start

Darin began his freshman year at Harrisburg High school in the fall of 2019. He was highly anticipated because of his ability at Harrisburg Middle School. In practice, Darin quickly proved himself and was named Captain before the first match. Darin had inherited a team that was very young and inexperienced. In the three years preceding Darin's arrival, Harrisburg had a combined record of 4-36 and the entire starting lineup had elected to forego Quizbowl before Darin had arrived. During this season, Harrisburg struggled, but improved. Their record stood at 6-12, but COVID struck before districts could be played. Darin had not won any awards this season, but had shown potential and the future was bright.

Sophomore Year; Breakout Season

Darin came into his sophomore year with a sense of vengeance. Before the season had started, the rest of the team from the previous season had not returned, forcing the Bulldogs to find a new team. Five fellow sophomores joined the team, many of whom had played in middle school. The Bulldogs also gained a new coach in Gwendolyn Weathers, Phd. The season had started slow, with three straight non conference losses. However, the Bulldogs did not let this scare them. They began conference play very strong and finished strong as well. The Bulldogs ended up 5-3 in conference play, but the team went 1-2 in the conference tournament and missed out on the afternoon. Despite the disappointment on the day, Darin was named the Lewis and Clark Conference All Conference 1st Team Captain, thanks to his dominant performances. The team also struggled in the District tournament, but Darin was named to the All District 2nd Team. Overall, the Harrisburg Bulldogs went 9-10 on the season, showing improvement and a bright future.

Junior Year; Built Different

In Darin's junior year, Harrisburg gained some highly needed new blood onto the team. 5 new freshman and the return of a junior and senior marked a bright future for the Bulldogs. The team's chemistry began to soar and everybody began to answer more questions, including Darin. Darin elevated his already high level of play to become something of legend. The team's success continued until the conference tournament, when the team would ultimately meet their conference demise. Due to weather events, Harrisburg was not able to play Schuyler County, causing Harrisburg to enter the tournament 7-0 as the 1 seed. The team blasted through their first two games, and Darin won his second consecutive All-Conference 1st Team Captain selection and first All-Tournament 1st Team Captain selection, which was the first to be given out by the conference. As the semifinals began, Harrisburg faced Schuyler County and lost for the first time in conference play. This was mostly due to an abundance of science-related questions, Harrisburg's worst subject. Harrisburg lost in the semifinals, but their season was not yet over. Harrisburg entered the district tournament at Westran, but quickly found an irregularity. Columbia Independent School was included in the district, despite the clear difference in funding and education of the school. In addition to a controversy regarding CIS's elegibility, CIS quickly became the talk of the tournament. Harrisburg won their first two matches, but lost to CIS in the first match. During the intermission, Darin was awarded his first All-District 1st Team Captain selection. Harrisburg went on to play CIS again in the semifinals, which ended in the same result. It should be noted the CIS eventually won the entire state tournament. Harrisburg's season ended with only 5 losses, with four coming to private schools and 3 coming in tournament play.

Senior Year; Redemption

Darin's senior season got off to a rocky start with a loss at Father Tolton that put the Bulldogs' record at 1-1. However, the tide quickly turned for Harrisburg, as they would go on to win their next seven match ups. At this point, the Bulldogs' only other loss was a tight matchup with Salisbury, with the game coming down to the last question. The first event of redemption was when Harrisburg finally took down Father Tolton at home, a feat that had not been accomplished in at least the last 4 years. The Bulldogs' would continue their redemption tour with a win against Schuyler County that pushed Harrisburg's record to 5-1 in conference play and also earned Darin an interview with Kyle Hill of KRES radio. At this point, Harrisburg is 12-2 overall and looks to make a confident push for both the conference and district championships.