Sole undergrad team takes first, advances to nationals
By Megan Sanders, April 28, 2026
Cal Poly Pomona’s food science and technology team advanced to the National College Bowl competition after placing first in the Pacific Southwest College Bowl for the fourth consecutive year.
The Broncos team, consisting of food science and technology students Jakob Bathon, Janet Dao, Alexander Gomez, Enrique Govea, Siane Kung, Nicole Lam and Jason Soldo, competed in the regional competition March 14 at Chapman University and are set to compete at nationals in July.
CPP was the only team at regionals made completely of undergraduate students.
College Bowls are trivia-based competitions that test students’ knowledge on elements such as food science and technology, history of food and other general food-related trivia.
During these competitions, four team members from one school compete head-to-head with four from another school and use a buzzer system to see which team answers questions the fastest. If a team lost a round twice, it was eliminated.
According to CPP team adviser Karoline Harrison, each team member possesses individual strengths and knowledge in a specific topic.
“One of the things that we’ve been focusing on more has been learning some of the crazy stuff,” Harrison said, “learning the things that we’ve noticed the big schools don’t practice that much.”
For example, Harrison mentioned one of the unusual questions the Broncos were prepared for at regionals was the number of seeds on a strawberry.
CPP’s team had a huge comeback after losing a second-round match against Chapman University. CPP pushed through and won its match against San Diego State and then a rematch with Chapman to secure the win.
According to Soldo, CPP’s team captain, it was rewarding because this was the first time his family was able to see and understand his major and all the knowledge he has gained in action.
“You think you’re not on par with (the larger schools), but then at the competition, when we were able to beat them, it’s maybe we are on par with master students,” Soldo said.
Soldo added having food science and technology professors in attendance for the competition was really special because not only were they able to witness his growth in knowledge but also the growth of the whole team.
The Broncos have been preparing for this competition since the beginning of the school year, holding practices once a week for two hours to practice their trivia knowledge and speed by doing practice rounds.
According to Lam, she is grateful to be a part of such a successful team and enjoys being able to do more activities outside of the classroom, like these competitions.
“This competition really strengthened my passion for food science because I got to interact with other industry professionals and other students, and we got to share our knowledge and passion,” Lam said.
The Broncos will continue to practice beyond the spring semester in preparation for the National College Bowl at the Institute of Food Technologists annual conference in Chicago July 12-15.
Feature image courtesy of Karoline Harrison
