It was just their first year of participation in the Maine Quiz Bowl, but Fort Kent students gave it their all and qualified for the upcoming national competition.
The team from Fort Kent Community High School — Daniel Hafford, Ethan Raymond, Mitchell Harvey and Quinn Michaud — finished fifth in the state out of 16 teams and topped the “small school” category.
The first four finishers were Windham, Brunswick, Deering and Marshwood.
The event took place March 25 at Bates College in Lewiston.
“We didn’t know how they were going to do until they actually competed. We were pleased with their performance,” Fort Kent coach Doug Dorman said.
Warrior Daniel Hafford placed second in the state out of 70 participants in the individual competition.
The students prepared by watching a lot of quiz shows from the past year and working on practice questions with buzzers.
Gifted and talented program adviser Jamie Pelletier, who also coaches the team, said the school district would like to expand the program.
“We went in cold not knowing what to expect. This is a building year that got us excited to want to do this with younger kids and build our program from here. It was a good starting point,” she said.
The national competition is April 28 in Chicago. The team has not decided yet if they will attend.
