View source for Will Alston

{{Infobox|Name = Will Alston (2nd from left)
|Image = Walstonqbwiki.jpeg
|Subjects = History, RMP, NAQT stuff, Literature, Fine Arts, General
|schoolpast = [[Dartmouth]] (2012-2016),[[Columbia]] (2019-2021)
|highschool = [[Bethesda-Chevy Chase]] (2008-2012)
|forums=[https://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=5915 Naan/steak-holding toll]
}}
{{confuse|[[Alston Boyd]]}}
'''Will Alston''' was a player on [[Columbia]]. He was the president of [[Dartmouth]] quizbowl until 2016 and formerly played for [[Bethesda-Chevy Chase]] with [[Spencer Weinreich]] and noted cheater Dmitri Halikias during the 2010-2011 season.

After taking some time off college due to treatment for leukemia, Will has continued to write and play, placing consistently well at open tournaments. Particularly knowledgeable in history, with a focus on world history and obscure non-Greek, non-Roman ancient peoples (which may be credited to his long hours of playing Europa Barbarorum in middle and high school), he was the third scorer on the team that won the [[2017 Chicago Open]].

Will has become known for his prolific question writing, often being a major contributor to two regular-difficulty sets, writing a side event, and writing numerous questions for [[NAQT]] in any given season.  After working on the 2014 and 2016 iterations of [[Penn Bowl]] and 2014's [[PADAWAN]] and [[DEES]], Will led the revival of [[EFT]] in 2016, repeating in his capacity as head editor in 2017. In 2017, Will spearheaded [[WAO|a namesake open set]], and in 2018, he edited history for [[ACF Regionals]] and head-edited the [[Sun God Invitational]]. In 2021, he head-edited [[2021 Chicago Open|Chicago Open]]. He is a frequent collaborator with [[Jason Cheng]], with whom he wrote EFT 2016-18, Sun God, and WAO.

Will has had a somewhat more checkered history [[List of Will Alston side events|writing side events]]. A leading force behind the disastrous [[Modern World]] tournament in 2014, he led the writing of 2016's controversial [[ARTSEE]] and produced the vanity set [[2017 Chicago Open|Naveed Bork]] in 2017. His 2018 side event [[Historature]] was somewhat better-received, with its proceeds going to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society; 2019's [[Age of Empires]] also met with a positive response. Will also collaborated with [[Jordan Brownstein]] on the acclaimed 2015 history set [[SHEIKH]].

In 2019, he began an MBA program at Columbia. In April 2020, in response to the cancellation of the [[2020 ICT]], he and [[Em Gunter]] organized the [[Internet Charity Tournament]], a weekend of vanity packet readings. In 2021, Will and his Columbia teammates won the [[2021 ICT]] over [[Illinois]] and came in second to [[Florida]] at [[2021 ACF Nationals]]. He also became the seventh-ever person to be ranked best collegiate player in the [[collegiate player poll]]. In 2022, he edited the History, Religion, Geography, and Current Events and co-edited the Social Science and Other Academic for [[2022 ACF Nationals]].

In early 2024, Alston and non-quizbowler Abhas Arya released Apple and Android versions of a trivia app called KnowIt.

{{-}}
{{Succession_box_(Individual)|Individual Honor = [[ACF|ACF Nationals Leading Scorer]]
|year = 2021
|previous = [[Charles Hang]]
|next = [[Matthew Bollinger]]
|}}


[[Category:Question writers]]
{{c|Columbia}}
{{c|Dartmouth}}
{{c|Bethesda-Chevy Chase}}
{{activehs|2009|2012}}
{{active|2013|2016}}
{{active|2020|2021}}
{{c|Players on ICT Division I championship teams}}