More than 40 students comprising 10 teams endured three hours of rapid-fire questions in the Memorial Union on Saturday as they competed for the right to represent Iowa State at the regional College Bowl competition.

The teams fielded questions from the far corners of academia in the first tier of the College Bowl, a national intercollegiate quiz contest.

Although Iowa State has not competed in recent years, it was one of the top teams of the ’90s, making six top-four finishes between 1991 and 1997, including one win and one second-place finish.

That tradition was far from the first thing on the minds of most contestants.

Philip De Koster, senior in sociology and IRHA team member, was more interested in just getting back to his high school form.

“In high school I was pretty quick,” De Koster said. “Now I am hesitating again.”

Teams learned early that the competitors to keep their eyes on were the Quiz Bowlers, members of the ISU Quiz Bowl Club who regularly practice and compete in National Academic Quiz Tournaments, a separate organization from College Bowl.

The Quiz Bowlers went on to win the competition.

Most competitors, however, were there for the fun.

Members of TEAM, named for The Engineering Ambassador Mentors, signed up because they were looking for a fun event for their group.

The group of randomly assembled volunteers took second place in the tournament.

Members said knowledge and luck played big roles in their success, but less democratic theories for winning were not altogether abandoned.

“Engineers just know everything,” said TEAM member Debarijit Chandra, senior in aerospace engineering.

Knowledge in one field was generally not enough as questions were asked from all disciplines including science, literature, history, current events and general trivia.

TEAM member Neil Heithoff, senior in agricultural engineering, said his group seemed to manage this balance of expertise almost by pure fluke.

“We seem to have people who are good at different things; we are good all around. I don’t know if there is really any secret to it,” he said.

Games were played in two different rooms, one led by MU program coordinator Steven Satterlee, and the other led by MU associate director and national College Bowl assistant director Gail Ferlazzo.

Players noticed a marked difference in atmosphere between the venues.

“I think we get through more questions in [Ferlazzo’s room], which is good because you get more points, but Steve is like, ‘Hey, it doesn’t matter if you get it wrong,'” said Kaela Rasmussen, sophomore in aerospace engineering and member of TEAM.

Ferlazzo said she didn’t mind being the more traditional of the two quizmasters and is eager to see more students participate in bringing the College Bowl tradition back to Iowa State.

“I think they all really enjoyed themselves,” Ferlazzo said.

“I think next year’s tournament, which we will hold in the fall instead of the spring, will have a better turnout, because now people have heard about it.”