The Brain Bowl Team at State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota (SCF) has qualified to compete for the national title at the National Academic Quiz Tournament (NAQT) in Chicago March 2-3 after taking second place in the Sectional Tournament held at SCF and being ranked sixth in the country.
SCF’s Brain Bowl team finished the NAQT South Florida Community College Sectional Tournament in second place with an 8-2 record. The competition featured a total of ten teams from six South Florida colleges. Each team played nine rounds during the tournament. Three teams, including SCF, played an additional final tie-breaking round. In the final round, Valencia Red beat Valencia Black and came back to best SCF for first place.
As a team, SCF scored an average of 343 points per game defeating their opponents by the highest margin of any team – an average of 200 points. The team also had the highest points per tossup and highest points per bonus question.
Individually, returning player David Espinal ranked fourth overall averaging 60 points per round, while veteran and team captain Austin Goode ranked sixth, averaging 49 points per round. Veteran Lacey Anderson ranked 20th scoring 160 points total, while rookie Ariel Rodriguez rounded out the team scoring 40 points and ranking 31st overall.
“The team looks forward to traveling to Chicago in March to compete in the NAQT Community College Championship Tournament,” said William Culver, one of the Brain Bowl coaches.
To see the team compete, make plans to attend the Florida College System Activities Association (FCSAA) regional tournament at 10 a.m. Feb. 10 at SCF Bradenton, 5840 26th St. W. Students interested in joining the team should contact Culver at CulverW@SCF.edu.