| A team of four Aggie undergraduates will represent the university this month in the Honda Campus All-Star Challenge, a quiz-bowl tournament for historically black colleges and universities.
This year marks A&T’s 21st straight trip to the national championship round of the contest. The Aggies will be one of 48 teams competing March 21-26 in Los Angeles. The winning team will receive a $50,000 grant for their school. Each team will receive at least $3,000; the amount rises with each successful round.
Teams representing A&T have won a total of $105,000 in previous years. A&T has yet to win the championship.
The team qualified by competing in a regional qualifying tournament in January against Benedict College, Fayetteville State University, St. Augustine’s College and Winston-Salem State University.
The team also played two “scrimmages,” defeating North Carolina Central University and Livingstone College.
Members of the 2015 team are Dunamis Bacchus, a sophomore majoring in engineering and computer science from Greensboro; Shakayla Grate, a freshman marketing major from Columbia, S.C.; Caleb Prince, a junior majoring in economics from Charlotte; and Akeeba Wright, a junior majoring in mass media production from Winston-Salem.
The team’s coach is Bryon D. Turman, a lecturer of English and Popular Culture in the English department.
Prince is the team’s captain and veteran. He served as captain last year and was a member of the practice team as a freshman.
To make the team, potential members first must score at least 85 on a 20-question quiz designed to assess their knowledge. That qualifies players for the practice team, where they’re required to practice at least three hours a day, three days a week (practice consists of competitive trivia games, similar to Jeopardy). The four members of the official team were chosen from the practice squad.
The 2015 National Championship Tournament will be live-streamed beginning Monday, March 23, at noon Eastern time on http://www.HCASC.com.
For more information on this year’s event, including a full list of the 48 qualifying teams, visit www.hcasc.com. |
