Past Glory

1998-1999

1998-99 was the year Valencia regained its glory. After a summer of hard work Brian Rooney returned as the best player in the state, leading Valencia's A team to an easy victory in the West Coast Regional, with Florida College finishing second for the third year in a row. The A team--Rooney, Gose Nesov, Brandt Erickson, Neil Ganey (returning after a two-year hiatus), and Eamon Banta--mowed through the competition at the state tournament, then won a squeaker against Gulf Coast in the final in the state's first overtime championship match. Ganey saved the Matadors by correctly answering "Stonehenge" as time ran out in regulation to force overtime. Rooney was the tournament high scorer. Valencia went on to capture the Berry Invitational for the first time since 1995, with Rooney again emerging as the tournament MVP. The championship team was Rooney, Amanda Bumgardner, Eamon Banta, and Francois Joseph.

Holding the 1999 Berry Invitational Trophy Cup are, from the left: Francois Joseph, Brian Rooney, Amanda Bumgardner and Eamon Banta.

1999-2000

Valencia began the 1999-2000 campaign by winning the National Academic Quiz Tournament Southeastern Conference Championship Division II Tournament at The University of Florida in November. Valencia's A team, composed of Brian Rooney, Amanda Bumgardner, Jane Burton, Damion Hammock, and Brandt Erickson defeated teams from four-year colleges like Georgia Tech., Florida State, South Florida, and North Florida.

From left: John Gano, Craig Kelley, Damion Hammock, and Brandt Erickson prepare for a match at the 2000 Dalton Invitational at Tallahassee Community College, where the team made the playoffs.

In January of 2000, Valencia for the first time sent teams to two different tournaments on the same weekend. One team went to a four-year college tournament, the Sword Bowl, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. That team, composed of Brian Rooney, Amanda Bumgardner, Joe Locey, and Gose Nesov, travelled north with Central Florida CC and finished in a tie for third place. CFCC also finished impressively in fourth place. Rooney was a tournament all-star. The other Valencia team, composed of Craig Kelley, John Gano, Brandt Erickson, and Damion Hammock, went to the Dalton Invitational in Tallahassee and made the playoffs.

The matadors went on in February to sweep both first and second place in the West Central Region, earning berths for the Red and the Black team in the State Championship Tournament, which Valencia hosted on the West Campus to good reviews. The State Tournament went well for Valencia, with the Red team (Damion Hammock, Amanda Bumgardner, Brandt Erickson, Gose Nesov) going 7-0 in the round robin competition. The Black team (Craig Kelley, John Gano, Fahar al-Mugheiey, Francois Joseph) went 1-6, but most observers agreed that this was one of the deepest fields ever seen at State. The Red team's dream of defending the previous year's title were dashed, however, by Tallahassee Community College, who defeated us in the final. Brandt Erickson of the Red team was a tournament all-star, however. This marked the fifth time in the last seven years that Valencia reached the "Super Bowl" of Florida two-year quiz bowl.

The 1999-2000 season ended officially with Valencia's heartbreaking second-place finish at the Berry Invitational. The Red team (Hammock, Bumgardner, Nesov, Kelley, and Gano) tied for the best round-robin record at 19-2, but lost the championship tie-breaker match with Florida CC at Jacksonville when no one on the team could come up with the last toss-up's answer: dicot (a class of flowering plants having two seed leaves, opposite of the monocot--which was given in the toss-up; may we never miss this again!). Finishing second at the two biggest tournaments of the year after losing the previous year's best player isn't bad, though!