Looking back at a 38-10 season last year, the Herrin Scholastic Bowl Team expects to see great things from this year. We hope to see both Varsity and Junior Varsity Teams go undefeated at the IHSSVCA Turnabout Tournament and get high scores in the SIRR Regionals and Sectionals Conferences like the Varsity Team did last year.

To kick off the season, the Varsity Team took a trip to Fairfield to play in its first conference on September 19. The night’s events started with a game against Salem. After 20 toss-ups, anticipation was rising as the two teams went into overtime with 210 points. To break this tie, the first team to answer just one more toss-up would win. Salem ended up leaving the room, taking the “L” with them.

The next team to step into the ring was Edwards County. Unfortunately for them, Herrin’s best were not giving up so easily. Our Tigers set a pattern winning with exactly 220 points yet again.

Now on fire, Mount Vernon decided to try their luck. With their 4-person team against our full 5-person team, the odds were not in their favor. This was even more evident as Herrin won 330-80.

Herrin then switched rooms to face the final opponent of the night, Fairfield. The two teams were both eager to end the night with a win. Fortunately for us, the ending score was 270-170.

Herrin left Fairfield with all four wins. Captain Austin Kerley correctly answered 23 tossups, Gavin McCluskie answered 10, Madeline Oxendine had 4, Gabby Jones had 3, and Kelsey King answered 1. Four members of Herrin’s Varsity Scholastic Bowl Team will be back in action on September 30 to record an episode for Hi-Q.