Quiz Bowl team invited to national tournament

Liberty University’s Quiz Bowl team has received its first invitation to attend the National Intercollegiate Championship Tournament in Chicago March 28-29.

Liberty’s 9-4 record last week against The University of Virginia, University of North Carolina, High Point University, and Davidson College at the National Academic Quiz Tournament at Virginia Tech earned it a No. 25 ranking in the country and qualified it for the national tournament.

“Our invitation to the championship tournament shows that many years of hard work at practices and tournaments eventually pays off,” said Dr. Jim Nutter, Liberty’s coach. “Going to the National Intercollegiate Championship Tournament means that Liberty’s team was one of the top 32 teams chosen, which also includes three Ivy League schools that we will be competing against — Harvard, Yale, and Cornell.”

Members of Liberty’s team include Catherine Hardee, a second-year graduate student in history who has qualified for “Jeopardy” four times and was the MVP at sectionals her senior year; two National Merit Finalists, junior Kaity Shondelmyer and sophomore Greta Hanks; and Jon Bateman, a junior social science major.

Liberty has won the Big South Conference seven out of the past nine years. The team finished in second place (7-1) at the tournament on Jan. 25.

Nutter said the students are encouraged to use every opportunity to show their faith through competition.

“Since we are Christians, we give God the glory for our minds and for the knowledge we possess. Our goal is to have the mind of Christ and to demonstrate love, kindness, and grace to other teams,” Nutter said.

Quiz Bowl, often called “the varsity sport of the mind,” is part of Liberty’s rigorous Honors Program. It includes players from a variety of majors; several members are National Merit Finalists on full academic scholarships. Competitions resemble “Jeopardy,” with teams buzzing in to answer questions on literature, history, geography, government, the sciences, math, art, popular culture, and sports.