Corpus Christi has won this year’s University Challenge after beating the University of Manchester by 275 points to 190 in Monday’s grand final.
Corpus struggled initially against a strong Manchester team and only took the lead for the first time with four minutes to go.
The success has made an unlikely celebrity of Corpus Christi’s captain, Gail Trimble, a 26-year-old postgraduate studying for a PhD in Latin Literature. Following the victory she has appeared on the Today programme, Radio 4 and been offered a photo shoot in men’s magazine, ‘Nuts’.
Trimble gained a reputation in previous rounds for single-handedly dragging her team to the final, personally winning over two-thirds of her team’s grand total of 1200 points. But Corpus Christi’s performance in the final has been recognized as a team effort and drew heavily on the quick-witted quiz skills of Lauren Schwartzman, Sam Kay and James Marsden as well as Trimble.
Corpus had widely been tipped to win before the final round began but soon found themselves 70-0 behind. With ten minutes left Manchester held a convincing lead of 160-95. However, a late surge saw the Oxford team overtake their northern rivals and claim the title for the second time in four years.
Schwartzman declared herself “absolutely thrilled” at the win while admitting that she had been surprised at the amount of press coverage their victory had attracted.
“I think this is one of those things which just really captures the public’s interest and off it goes, sort of a snowball effect. I think it’s great that intellectual achievement can be a top story.
“Some of it is flattering, and some of it is downright weird. But it was a great experience overall, and in particular a great team with which to experience it,” she said.
She acknowledged that Manchester had provided Corpus with the toughest test of the whole competition: “At one point I looked at the scoreboard and it was 70-0 and my heart rate suddenly increased. It was a long haul from there. After we got a couple of starters I could breathe again, but it was a situation we just hadn’t been in yet in the competition. The last five minutes, however, were when I’m pretty sure my heart stopped!”
National media attention, however, has been focussed on 26-year-old Gail Trimble after internet coverage of her impressive performances in earlier rounds became excessively critical in some areas.
Fellow team-mate James Marsden said that the response was “completely unjustifiable” and attacked those who criticized his captain’s appearances on the show. “They’ve never met her, they’ve only seen [her] on a TV show for two and half hours. What’s really galling is when they say that Gail is looking down on the rest of the teams.”
He added that he was glad to have avoided the same level of coverage. “I don’t think anyone’s worked out who I am yet.”
Schwartzman says that despite the criticism Trimble was “an excellent captain.”
“Aside from being incredibly quick on the buzzer, she was great at “managing” the bonuses – something that I think doesn’t come across on TV. She always asked us what we thought the answers were, and particularly asked a team member if it was something that was one of our areas of expertise. We worked really well as a team, and Gail’s leadership was a huge part of that.”
Schwartzman commented that the team had even evoked glowing admiration from notoriously difficult host and quiz-master Jeremy Paxman, “he was very complimentary. He’s got a gruff persona on the show of course, but he’s actually a very friendly guy.”
Students packed the Oxford Blue pub on Cowley Road to watch their team win the trophy. Second year Mike Roberts said, “It was a really good atmosphere, everyone who was Corpus was there.”
The episode was filmed last November but competitors were not allowed to reveal the result until it was broadcast on Monday night.
Four of the past six champions have been Oxford colleges. In addition to Corpus Christi’s two victories both Magdalen and Christ Church have enjoyed similar success in recent years.
