Photo submitted to Times Observer Members of the SkillsUSA District Champion Quiz Bowl team from Warren County Career Center are, from left, Lucas Moore; Bryanna Hesslink; William Montgomery; Emma Bailey; and Lucas Angove.

When the Warren County Career Center Quiz Bowl team competes in Hershey next month, it will come in with something to prove.

“We want gold,” according to three-year veteran Bryanna Hesslink. “The last two years, we came in second.”

“We want to crush them,” Emma Bailey said. This will be her second trip to state competition.

As with any high school program, maintaining a winning culture requires different people to step up.

For Lucas Moore, it’s his first year on the team, but his goal is not in doubt. “Dominate.”

Moore was already competing in FBLA. He is up on global events and business. Adding some SkillsUSA Quiz Bowl seemed like a natural step.

William Montgomery also joined the team this year.

“They were telling me about it, and that they needed someone for the sports questions,” he said. “I know a lot about sports-related topics. I’m a good fit.”

He doesn’t care what term — “crush, dominate, first, gold” — he is ready to win.

Lucas Angove is the other new member of the team. Quiz Bowl, and the district’s trivia nights are good outlets for one of his previously not very helpful pastimes. “I spend too much time learning about things that I don’t need to know, but now I do,” he said.

Like the others, he is zeroed in on advancing from states. “Victory.”

“I love working with just an upbeat and motivated team,” Advisor Jessica Tundel said. “The kids work well together and come together as a team very effectively during competition.”

“I would like to see them take home the gold this year,” she said. “We have taken silver two years in a row. I want to see them take it all the way.”

The three newcomers have only known success in quiz bowl. There aren’t local competitions. The first time they got together as a team with a buzzer on the table in front of them they easily won the district level competition.

“We did very well,” Bailey said. “We flew through districts.”

The team buzzed in early and often, and when they did, they were right.

“In the second round (of 100 questions), we just kept answering all the questions,” Montgomery said.

“We crushed them, 32-to-6,” Bailey said.

Six was the second-best score. The others were even lower.

Several teams compete at once in the 200-point competition. The final scores might not add up to 200 — if no one buzzes in there is no point awarded, and points are taken away for incorrect answers.

There are other components to the competition. Each participant will take a written test, but, as long as they don’t talk, they can share answers with their teammates. And, the judge will evaluate a resume for each student. After years of practice, the career center bunch expects to do well on those parts, too.

Between districts and states, the team has been working on strategy. They have differentiated knowledge. “The categories are split up,” Bailey said. “There are certain topics that we each study.”

In her case, “I’m strong on current events and English.”

“We all contributed,” Moore said. “We all had great ideas.”

Not every team member can reach the buzzer during the competitions. So, those on the wings need to be able to immediately communicate to those within reach that they know the answer or that they are confident they will know the answer within the allowed five seconds.

The past competitions have shown that coming right out and discussing answers is dangerous.

Bailey jokingly mentioned Zimbabwe as a possible answer during a discussion. When the team eventually missed the question and another team buzzed in, they tried Zimbabwe, she said. It was wrong, but it sent a message. “We need to work on our communication,” Montgomery said. “Not saying our answers out loud.”

The students don’t spend a lot of time together.

“We have a diverse crew for Quiz Bowl,” Tundel said. “Lucas Moore is in Computer Maintenance, Emma Bailey is in Computer Maintenance, William Montgomery is in Protective Services, Bryanna Hesslink is in Health/Medical Assisting, and Lucas Angove is in Pre-Engineering.”

They’ll find time to discuss strategy, but the next time they get together with a buzzer, it will be April 11 in Hershey.

The team members are well aware of the possibilities.

As with districts, at higher levels, the first place team moves on. “Nationals is in Kentucky,” Hesslink said. “Worlds is in Russia this year.”

At each level, there are dollars attached. That was one of the things that brought Hesslink to the team in the first place. “I was told that we could earn scholarships,” she said.

She has racked up two $1,500 scholarships from her previous trips to states. A win would bring a $10,000 scholarship.

Her area of expertise is whatever the other team members don’t have covered. “I’m book smart. If I study it, I can learn it.”

The categories are generally related to a school curriculum — science, history, math, English — with a focus on current events, plus sports and information about SkillsUSA.