University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame
Location: South Bend, IN
Current President or Coach	Lou Pignatelli, Bryce Durgin
National championships	None
NAQT Page	link

School located in Northern Indiana. Notable football school. Not-so-notable quizbowl school. Famous for travelling and tournament hosting restrictions. Open to participants from Saint Mary's College.

History

Notre Dame did some stuff with the radio College Bowl in the early days, that I may add at some point later.

The earliest record currently found is the listserv archives, which dates back to a practice reminder in September '04 from CPL Philip Mauro. It is uncertain whether that was when the team was founded - within the five years preceding 2007, both a NAQT State Qualifier and CBI Regionals were held at Notre Dame.

However, it is clear that the team was mostly dormant until the 2007-08 season. Between September '04 and September '07, the team travelled to three tournaments, all of which were NAQT. In fact, for the 2005-06 season it appeared that the Academic Competition Club of Notre Dame was in tatters.

Early in 2006, Lou Pignatelli took the reins, and began the rejuvenation of the program. Relying on the only thing he knew - NAQT - he attempted to create a team that would be a force. Though they attended but a single tournament that year, it wasn't for a lack of effort. Scads of emails and a form he created listing potential tournaments as far away as Kansas attest to that fact. The entrance of top Minnesota high-schooler Josh Mollner also assisted in the return of quizbowl to Notre Dame .

The next year saw the rebuilding continue with the influx of several eager freshmen, including co-president Bryce Durgin. Though Bryce possessed no great skill of his own, he possessed a passion for quizbowl and a knowledge of the circuit that enabled him to inform the team about the numerous opportunities for competition available. Indeed, the team competed in more academic tournaments (four) that year than in the previous 3 years combined.

Notre Dame posted its first winning record ever at a tournament at the 2008 ACF Fall: CMU. Less than a week later, due to a misunderstanding regarding their Illinois Open absence (which coincided with the club's first attempt at hosting a fall tournament), the club was accused of being trash-captured.

Current Players

• Lou Pignatelli (Grad Student) (2004-)
• Sarah Davenport (Senior) (2007-)
• Josh Mollner (Junior) (2006-)
• Chris Keiser (Junior) (2007-)
• John Robinson (Junior) (2008-)
• Justine Debelius (Junior) (2008-)
• Bryce Durgin (Sophomore) (2007-)
• Jennifer Shaw (Sophomore) (2007-)
• Jake Pardo "The Poxbringer" (Sophomore) (2007-)
• Kenny Schlax (Sophomore) (2007-)
• Will Hayman (Sophomore) (2007-)
• Zhaoheng Zheng (Freshman) (2008-)
• Anabel Castaneda (Freshman) (2008- )
• Adam Swanson (Freshman) (2008- )
• Virginia Benz (Freshman) (2008- )

Former Players

• Philip Mauro (?-2004)
• John Coyle (2008)
• Eric Himmelsbach (?-2007)
• Dustin VonHandorf (?-2004)
• Sarah Mordan-Mccombs (?-2004)
• Tim Mckenzie (?-?)

Officers by Year

• 2008-09
  • President: Bryce Durgin
  • Vice-President: Lou Pignatelli, Josh Mollner
  • Treasurer: Sarah Davenport
  • Webmaster: Adam Swanson
• 2007-08
  • President: Lou Pignatelli, Bryce Durgin, Eric Himmelsbach, Josh Mollner
  • Treasurer: Sarah Davenport
• 2006-07
  • Arch-President: Lou Pignatelli, Eric Himmelsbach
• 2005-06
  • To the best of my knowledge, no quizbowl occurred that year
• 2004-05
  • President: Philip Mauro
  • Vice-President: Dustin VonHandorf
  • Unknown Officer: Sarah Mordan-Mccombs