SC Oklahoma News

Murray State College’s 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.

Murray 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 Murray State. Barnett led Murray with a 43.93 scoring average, good enough for seventh place in scoring and the tournament All-Star team.

“Winning sectionals and qualifying for the Community College Championship Tournament was an accomplishment unto itself,” said Tracey Hickman, Murray State College team coach. “Once 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.  

“The Murray State Academic Team is a true testament of the hard work, dedication and talent that make up Aggie Nation,” said Dr. Tim Faltyn, Murray State College President. “This 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.”

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