Welcome PACE’s Summer 2026 New Member Class!

Alex Thomas has been actively involved with quizbowl since 2017. He is the current vice president of Georgia Tech’s team and is active in playing, moderating, and directing tournaments. Outside of quizbowl, he enjoys reading and playing the trumpet and piano.

Anuja Kumbhardare has been involved in quizbowl since 2017, and has been a PACE member since 2026. She is a University of Pittsburgh alumnus, where she was TD for Pitt’s quizbowl team, and has BA in Museum Studies & Classics and a BS/BA in Human Resource Management.

Ellen Rispoli is a former high school quizbowl coach from Indianapolis Indiana. During her tenure, Ellen sought to incorporate disability advocacy and differentiation for twice-exceptional learners within quizbowl on a local, state, and national level. Ellen currently is a graduate student at Indiana University and hosts pyramidal trivia at a local bar once a month. She and her husband Peter continue to support local quizbowl tournaments, coaches, and teams.

Hazel Singh started playing quizbowl with NYU’s club in 2023, and she previously served on their executive board as Treasurer and President. Having recently graduated, she plans to stay involved by staffing tournaments in the Upper Mid-Atlantic, staying connected with the teams she’s gotten to know. She’s very passionate about what good moderating looks like, and is invested in helping newer staffers improve. Outside of quizbowl, Hazel enjoys going to the cinema multiple times a week, watching women’s soccer while building false hope about her teams, expanding her music knowledge one recommendation at a time, tackling her insane list of books to read, and embarking on silly little side quests with friends.

Jacob Hardin-Bernhardt is a rising senior at NYU and the VP of NYUQB, but they have been playing since 2017 and writing since 2018. They are a history player and editor by virtue of having at some point tried and failed to learn all other categories. They are passionate about all aspects of spectator quizbowl – commentary, live stats, good UI, rankings, rampant speculation, and so on – and about the dissolution of “Other History” as a category. Outside of quizbowl, they spend time running, reading too much Worm (&co.), and accidentally breaking their own computer while doing mundane tasks.

Joanna Xiao is from coastal Georgia and started playing quizbowl in 2016, mostly because she took a wrong turn looking for Science Olympiad. It is in contention for one of the best mistakes she has ever made. Nowadays, she spends her time roaming Georgia Tech and enjoys growing turnips, watching Survivor, and firing rocket engines.

Noah Sheidlower has been involved in quizbowl since 2015 as a freshman at Great Neck South High School, then continued at Columbia University and now writes and edits for various sets while working as a journalist in New York. He loves all things history and art, especially classical music. He has also edited for the past two PACE NSCs.

Cypress/Sam Macchi has been involved with quizbowl since joining before their freshman year of high school in 2019. They currently serve as president of the Vassar College quizbowl team, direct and staff tournaments throughout the Northeast, write and/or edit for multiple sets per year, and work on Groger Ranks. Outside of quizbowl they play classical and jazz bass, play Magic: The Gathering, and do fire spinning.

Sophia Madrazo started playing quizbowl in 2017 and founded Herron High School’s team in 2021. She is currently president of Purdue’s quizbowl club and a junior in chemical engineering. Outside of quizbowl, Sophia enjoys running and reading.

Vikram Narasimhan has been involved with quizbowl since starting his playing career in 2021. He wrote for the 2026 NSC and has been involved with many other writing/editing projects over the last several years. Outside of quizbowl, Vikram enjoys crossword solving, mountain biking, and watching Star Wars. He looks forward to giving back to the quizbowl community as a PACE member!