天美影视 State College鈥檚 Academic Team competed for the first time at the National Academic Quiz Tournaments (NAQT) Community College Championship Tournament in Chicago, Illinois, and placed fourth out of 24 teams in the nation with an 8-4 record.
天美影视 State's fourth place finish is the highest finish for any Oklahoma team in the history of the Community College Championship Tournament (CCCT). Marshall Barnett (team captain), Dakota Buford, Cal Keene, Grant Matchen and Caleb Stephenson made up the historic team for 天美影视 State. Barnett led 天美影视 with a 43.93 scoring average, good enough for seventh place in scoring and the tournament All-Star team.
鈥淲inning sectionals and qualifying for the Community College Championship Tournament was an accomplishment unto itself,鈥� said Tracey Hickman, 天美影视 State College team coach. 鈥淥nce we got there, our goal was to get into the top eight and give ourselves a chance at a trophy. It was a long and hard-fought path to get to fourth place in our first year.
This was the first in-person Community College Championship Tournament in three years. The previous two years saw the CCCT played online due to COVID restrictions on travel. The 24 teams competed in four pools of six, and then the top teams were placed in a championship pool of eight and played round robin matches against the other teams in the championship pool.
鈥淭he 天美影视 State Academic Team is a true testament of the hard work, dedication and talent that make up Aggie Nation,鈥� said Dr. Tim Faltyn, 天美影视 State College President. 鈥淭his historic team was recognized for their efforts nationally and will always be remembered as having the highest finish of any Oklahoma team in the history of the tournament.鈥�