The South Georgia State College Academic Quiz team has earned the 18th seed in the Community College Championship Tournament (CCCT) to be held in Minnesota February 24-25. CCCT is the national competition for two year schools or first and second year students at four year schools. The top twenty-four teams in the nation are invited to compete based on rankings by the governing body, National Academic Quiz Teams, LLC, (NAQT).
According to the NAQT website, “Quiz bowl questions range over the entire spectrum of a community college curriculum and also include a certain amount of current events, sports, and popular culture. The matches feature a blend of individual competition and team collaboration, since no individual player is likely to be an expert in all subject areas. Quiz bowl can reinforce classroom lessons and also encourage players to go beyond their majors to master other areas as well.”
The top four teams from the CCCT will be invited to the national championship for all two year and four year schools.
The Quiz team recently competed in two events leading up to earning this distinction. The first was at Santa Fe Community College, finishing 2-5. The tournament was especially challenging as the packets were written for four year college competitions. The team lost a couple of close matches, including a five point loss to Tallahassee, a team that finished 5-2. Team co-captain Hailey Williamson from Fitzgerald, Ga., finished 6th out of 46 players. Other players that competed in the Santa Fe Tournament were Hong Rose Nguyen and Alejandro Briceno, both of Douglas, Ga.
With only a few weeks to prepare, the team then competed in the NAQT sectionals. With only a two-person team of Hailey Williamson and Hong Rose Nguyen, they performed well by tying with Tallahassee Community College for third place. The perennial powerhouse teams from Chipola finished first and second. SGSC finished at 5-3, one game out of second place. Williamson and Nguyen placed in the top ten for individual scorers, with Hailey Williamson finishing 5th and Hong Rose Nguyen in a tie for 10th. These competitions were the deciding factor in earning their bid for the CCCT.
– Submitted