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The College Quiz Bowl Team of Southern Union State Community College is slated to make its second straight appearance in the NAQT Community College Championship Tournament in Chicago, Ill. February 22-24.

The team, captained by Will Hughes, includes members Josh Kroll, Lane Aldridge, Macey Slick and Abbie Harden and coached by SU social science instructors Brent Catchings and Jackson Bonner, will enter the competition as one of the top seeds in the country amongst all community colleges. Last year, the team from SUSCC brought home a third-place overall finish in the tournament and boasted the highest individual scorer in Hughes.

The SU College Bowl Team has continued its winning ways this season. They went undefeated to win the Northwest Shoals Welcome Tournament in October. They then went 4-0 to win the December Invitational hosted by Jeff State Community College, where team member Will Hughes’ performance ranks third all-time in average points per game.

The team secured an invitation to the National Championship Tournament last week when they went 10-0 in the Sectional Tournament hosted by Wallace State. In addition, the SU College Bowl has earned an invitation to the Undergraduate National Championship at Columbia University in New York City where they would face powerhouses such as Duke, Princeton, Harvard, and Yale. On the road to qualifying for this tournament, the SU team outscored teams from Boston University, Alabama, Ole Miss, Arkansas and South Carolina.

Quiz bowl is a competitive, academic, interscholastic activity for teams of four students. Quiz bowl teams use buzzers to answer questions about science, math, history, literature, mythology, geography, social science, 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. Participation in quiz bowl both reinforces lessons from the classroom and encourages players to develop new intellectual interests.

With campuses in Wadley, Opelika and Valley, Southern Union State Community College is the second oldest community college in the state and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award associate degrees.

Follow Southern Union’s social media accounts during the national tournament to check the team’s progress as it competes for the national championship.