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Quiz Team in Top Four at Community
College Nationals, Wins Invitation to Compete at University
Nationals
The Northeast Mustangs finished fourth out of the twenty-four
community college teams competing in Orlando, Florida recently
for the national Community College Championship title.
“The format, questions, and competition were all great. I was
very impressed by the skill of the moderators and how well the
tournament was put together,” said Northeast Team Captain Casey
Lowery. Casey, a freshman at Northeast, finished fifth out of
over 170 competitors for his individual performance. This makes
Casey’s fifth individual trophy of the season.
Because of its outstanding performance, Northeast was chosen as
one of only six community colleges invited to the
Intercollegiate Championship Tournament (ICT) to be held in
Dallas, Texas on April 3, 2009. At the ICT, Northeast and the
other five community colleges will compete against freshmen and
sophomores from universities such as UCLA, Northwestern
University, the University of Chicago and Princeton University.
At the Community College Championship, Northeast was undefeated
and top-seeded in its bracket after seven rounds of play, having
comfortable won by scores such as 375-5 against Allen County CC
of Kansas, 255-130 against Broward CC of Florida, and 375-50
against Pasco-Hernando CC of Texas.
Brutally fierce competition in the playoffs was to be
Northeast’s undoing. Against former national champion, Valencia
CC of Florida, Northeast lost 75-240. Against Reynolds CC of
Virginia, Northeast lost by an agonizing 215-265, which amounted
to one question about a rap music album and the bonus questions
that came with that correct answer.
The playoff battle against Chipola CC of Florida came down to
Northeast’s Andrew Burdette rightly pointing out that the
question contained an error (about Dale Earnhardt).
Northeast’s success on that protest (which took at least half an
hour to resolve) resulted in a 65-point change in the match and
made Northeast that playoff round winner. In the next round,
Northeast lost in a tie-breaker half-round against another team
with a 7-2 record. The final result was that Reynolds CC of
Virginia won the national title.
Northeast placed higher than any other Alabama community
college, and Northeast is the only Alabama community college to
be invited to the ICT.
The Northeast team was accompanied by co-sponsors Denise
Patterson and Daphne Huntley. Also, parents Ann Monroe and Sarah
Burdette traveled to see their sons perform and to cheer the
team on at every turn.
"The Northeast Quiz Team offers its deepest thanks to the
Northeast administration, faculty, staff and students, who have
supplied endless encouragement and support throughout this
season," said Huntley.
"We are very proud of the accomplishments of our Quiz Team,"
said Dr. David Campbell, President of Northeast. "They have represented Northeast
extremely well.
Our faculty who have worked with the Quiz Team are to be
commended for their work with the Quiz Team as well. They are
Dr. Daphne Huntley, Mr. Kevin Holt, and Ms. Denise Patterson.
They have certainly helped our students get to this high level
of success."
Dean Tonie Niblett congratulated the successful quiz team as
well. "It is such a wonderful accomplishment for the Northeast
Quiz Team to perform so well at Orlando and earn a place at the
Dallas competition against university teams," she said. "We are
so proud of them and wish them the best at Dallas. Go
Mustangs!!!!"
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