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Teams show what they know during quest for scholarships
By RYAN DAVIS © St. Petersburg Times, published February 25, 2001 SAINT LEO -- Kristan Bush knew that she and her St. Petersburg Catholic High School teammates had read a book about this in Miss Belski's sophomore English class. But with everyone watching, the name for a holy power of a Hindu priest could not get past the tips of their tongues. "You have the answer and half the time your brain goes on overdrive and you don't get it," said Bush, a senior. If only they had answered Brahman, they would have beaten one of their rivals, Jesuit High School in Tampa. "All the sports rivalries carry over into here," Maureen McGough said. Welcome to the Florida State All-Catholic Academic Competition, held Friday at Saint Leo University. It's Jeopardy, high-school style. Moderator Randy Criss, a Saint Leo physics professor, was Alex Trebek minus the mustache and plus some high school lingo: "You guys rock" and "cool." The intensity also was turned down a notch from the television game show. "And you don't have to answer in the form of a question," Jesuit junior Patrick Davis said. After 36 rounds of round-robin competition between nine teams from across the state, Cardinal Mooney High School in Sarasota came out on top. Melbourne Central Catholic High School took second, and Jesuit and St. Petersburg Catholic tied for third. The five members of the Mooney team each won a $6,000 scholarship to Saint Leo. "That's the kind of student we want," Saint Leo president Arthur Kirk said, "someone who's bright but also willing to risk competition." Each round pitted four students from one school against four from another for 13 questions. A correct answer was worth one point. Teams only lost a point for a wrong answer if they buzzed in before the entire question had been read. The topics ranged from history to current events and the answers ranged from John Locke to Lil' Bow Wow. Mooney posted a score of 43 correct answers then watched the final seven rounds as everyone else came up short. "Miss, miss, miss, miss, miss," Mooney sophomore Erin Slattery said from the stands. Reading books, watching Jeopardy and reading the newspaper -- everyone had a tip for knowing the answers. Mooney's worked. "Everything we learned since fifth grade," Slattery said, "it just stuck with us. - Ryan Davis covers higher education and social services in Pasco. He can be reached at 800-333-7505 ext. 3452 or by e-mail at rdavis@sptimes.com.
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