Members of Miami's Academic Team competed April 3 to 4 in Dallas for a national tournament.
Miami University's academic team finished 12th against 31 other university teams at the Intercollegiate Championship Tournament April 3 and 4.
The team took Dallas by storm at a competition run by the National Academic Quiz Tournaments (NAQT).
Miami's team finished with a record of 7-6. They defeated teams from Mississippi State, University of Maryland, Washington University (St. Louis), Vanderbilt University, Davidson College and rival Ohio State University.
During the competition, Miami kept a close eye on Ohio State University and Case Western according to Michael Salvadore, a first-year majoring in public administration.
The team played many close matches against Ohio State, so when they won by five points at nationals, they were proud and excited, according to Salvadore.
He said the most intense bracket was against Ohio State University.
"(OSU) should've beaten us, but they answered a lot wrong, which was frustrating since the questions were worded funny," Salvadore said.
Miami's team qualified for nationals by placing second at the NAQT Mideast regional competition at the University of Pittsburgh in February.
The team competes in college quiz bowls that are similar to team jeopardy and travels to tournaments across the nation to compete against other universities.
President Kyle Fields said the team prepared for nationals all year.
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The questions for the quiz bowl include literature, history, science, pop culture, current events and philosophy, according to the NAQT website.
In order to tackle all potential questions, the team creates a division of labor. Each person focuses on a different area and then concentrate on weak spots as the competition draws near.
Sophomore Spencer Pate earned all-star honors as the eighth highest scorer in the nation in Division II. He averaged more than 42 points per game.
The rest of the team included Fields, sophomore Audrey Lloyd, and first-years Salvadore and Luke Williams.
The team meets twice weekly for an hour and a half to practice quiz bowl and use several weekends a year for tournaments.
Fields said that the biggest challenge the team faces is funding.
Even though the team receives funds from Associated Student Government, Fields said finding sufficient funding is difficult. Fields said the academic team chose to host a competition this year for the local high schools, which brought some additional funds.
After the win, Fields said he felt great and was excited.
"It's really cool since I just started the club two years ago," Fields said.
Fields founded the organization in 2006 after realizing Miami did not have an academic team. Fields started competing in high school and wanted to continue his passion on into higher education.
Teams have to play in Division II until they make it to nationals, therefore the team will compete against better teams in Division I next year.
Salvadore says most teams take the club more seriously. Other schools study a couple hours a day whereas Miami's team is more social and fun.
"We all like knowledge, so we are nerdy in that way, but we also like to have fun," Salvadore said.
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