| Minnesota
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Location:
Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN
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| Current President or Coach |
Gaurav Kandlikar
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| National championships |
2010 ACF Undergraduate, 2009 ACF Undergraduate, 2008 ACF Undergraduate, 2008 ACF Division II, 2009 NAQT Undergaduate, 2010 NAQT Undergraduate, 2011 NAQT; 1984 College Bowl, 1987 College Bowl, 1989 College Bowl, 2004 College Bowl, 2005 College Bowl, 2007 College Bowl
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| NAQT Page |
link
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This article describes the Quiz Bowl Team at the University of Minnesota. For high school Quiz Bowl in the state of Illinois, see Minnesota Quiz Bowl Alliance.
The University of Minnesota is a four-year public university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. Minnesota is an active team that participates in nearly all regional tournaments and regularly sends teams to ICT and ACF Nationals.
Long known as a CBI powerhouse, in 2008 the team achieved the unique feat of qualifying teams for the playoffs at both CBI and ACF Nationals, on the same day. Due to an amusing decision in the marketing department, the club has sweatshirts claiming to have won seven national titles from 2004-2011, a fact that neglects mentioning there are two national tournaments (three if you count Division II ICT, which they did) and that a majority of the 'titles' are for undergraduate champion.
The club maintains an international collegiate contact list for clubs in the US, Canada, the UK, and Pakistan which is updated by the current president based off of information obtained from regional teams. The team also host pop culture and special events trivia tournaments for the larger campus community, including serving as on-stage entertainment before OK Go took the stage in 2011.
Tournaments
Minnesota, or some contingent of recent graduates, produces and hosts Minnesota Open in the fall. The team also writes the Minnesota Undergraduate Tournament or MUT every spring. In 2012, MUT was written in conjunction with Illinois. Last year, a group of mostly freshmen and sophomores on the team created the Minnesota High School Novice Tournament which may or may not be reiterated this year depending on how much patience Eliza Grames has for editing questions.
Collegiate events hosted by the University of Minnesota in 2011-2012 include a mirror of VCU Open Trash, Collegiate Novice, a mirror of Missiles of October, Minnesota Open with side events, ACF Regionals, and the Minnesota Undergraduate Tournament.
The team hosts several high school tournaments each year to increase the number of high school players involved and give them an opportunity to compete on a variety of questions. In 2011-2012, the team hosted a mirror of the Fall Novice Tournament in November, the annual GINVIT on an NAQT-IS set in December, National History Bee and Bowl in February, and the Minnesota High School Novice Tournament in March.
Leadership
In the past, Minnesota has been directed by one Committee Chair which in recent years has been held by Eliza Grames (2010-2012), Gautam Kandlikar (2009-2010), and Andrew Hart (2008-2009). Due to a change in organizational structure in their Student Unions & Activities department, starting in 2012-2013 the club will now be directed by five officers as indicated above.
Players
- Andrew Hart, law student
- Mike Cheyne, grad student
- Bernadette Spencer, super-duper senior
- Eliza Grames, senior
- Matt Hart, senior
- Alex Nelson, junior
- Gaurav Kandlikar, junior
- Melanie Keating, junior
- Michael McLaughlin, junior
- Paul Barta, junior
- Robin Heinonen, junior
- Shannon Fletcher, junior
- Srijay Rajan, junior
- Aswar Rahman, sophomore
- Han Li, sophomore
- Jack Ryan, sophomore
- Joe Schiltz, sophomore
- Jonathon Hank, sophomore
- Peter Estall, sophomore
- Ribhu Agarwala, sophomore
Notable Alumni
Title Succession
College Bowl Title Succession
