February 17, 2011

Academic Quiz Team places second in sectional tournament

SEARCY, Ark. — The Harding University Academic Quiz Team placed second
in the National Academic Quiz Team sectional tournament at Missouri
State University in Springfield, Mo., Feb. 5.

In a round-robin-style tournament where each team competed with all 10
teams in attendance, the Harding team defeated teams from Arkansas,
Missouri and Kansas. Team members who participated in the tournament
were senior biology major and team captain Caleb Robbins of Dixon,
Ill.; sophomore social science education major Josh Duggins of
Gassville, Ark.; sophomore history and Bible and religion double major
Alexandria Grzybowski of Capron, Ill.; and senior international
business and management double major Kirvyn Vargas of Chiriavi,
Panama.

“Placing second shows that, while we may not be the best team in the
region, we certainly have the potential to be the best next year – it
just takes some work,” Robbins said. “The region saw a pretty decent
jump up in talent as compared to last year, so we're excited that we
competed as well as we did.”

Though the team did not qualify for nationals in Chicago this year,
Robbins said the team’s chances next year look very promising.

The team competes throughout the school year and placed second in the
Academic Competition Federation’s fall competition at University of
Oklahoma and third in the Gateway Invitational in St. Louis last
semester.

“Anybody who thinks they might have fun should join,” Robbins said.
“The most common excuse I hear for not joining the team is ‘I'm not
smart enough,’ but what it really comes down to is having fun
memorizing information, being academically curious and putting in a
little work like you do for any other form of competition.”