The Brain Bowl team for State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota (SCF) took second place at the National Academic Quiz Tournaments (NAQT) Community College Championship Tournament (CCCT) held in Chicago March 3-4. The finish earns them an invite to the NAQT Intercollegiate College Tournament (ICT) where they will compete with teams from four-year universities such as the University of Florida, Harvard University, University of California, Berkley, and Stanford University.
At the CCCT, SCF faced off against 23 other teams from colleges around the country. They finished the first day undefeated. It came down to an intense final match between Valencia College and SCF, who both had 10-1 records. As a team, SCF scored an average of 286 points per game.
Individually, out of a field of 111 competitors, David Espinal ranked second averaging 68 points per round, team captain Austin Goode ranked 41st, averaging 16 points per round, and Lacey Anderson ranked 54th, scoring 10 points per round. CCCT rookies Justin Reitwiesner, Ariel Rodriguez, and Jerry Monosiet finished 73rd, 77th, and 100th respectively.
The team will be traveling to Mariana, Florida next week for the Florida College System Activities Association (FCSAA) State Tournament, and then to Chicago again in April for ICT. The Brain Bowl team will be rebuilding for next season as team members Espinal, Goode and Rodriguez graduate.
For information, contact William Culver, Brain Bowl coach, at CulverW@SCF.edu or 941-752-5509.