Harding

Harding University
Location: Searcy, Arkansas
Current President or Coach	Dr. Mark ELrod (coach) Josh Duggins (captain)
National championships	None
NAQT Page	link

Harding University is a Christian Liberal Arts institution located in Searcy, Arkansas. Harding’s Quiz Bowl team is officially known as the Harding Academic Quiz Team and has been active for many years.

The Harding Academic team competes in both ACF and NAQT tournaments in the Southwest and Midwest regions.

Current Team

The 2012-2013 year marks one of the youngest teams in Harding's quiz bowl history with only three returning players from the 2011-12 team.

2011-2012

The Harding Academic Quiz Team won its NAQT SCT in 2012, thus earning its first bid to the ICT since Jason Loy's graduation in 2008, a manifestation of the dramatic improvement of the program. At the 2012 Intercollegiate Championship (Chicago) the Harding team of Caleb Robbins, Josh Duggins, Mary O'Briant, and Jake Windley finished with a 7-6 record and placed #18 among NAQT D-II colleges.

2008-2009

The 2008-2009 season saw Harding appear at only two regular tournaments - Tulsa's Golden Hurricane Open in the fall, and the NAQT SCT 2009 Central at WUSTL. The team was in the bottom of the field for both of these tournaments, but saw promise in its young players.

2009-2010

The 2009-2010 season saw the team travel to a number of tournaments. The team appeared at the University of Illinois' mirror of Brown's Early Fall Tournament IV, ACF Fall at Mizzou, GIT XIV (WUSTL's mirror of Delta Burke), and ACF Winter at Missouri State.

The team fell into the lower bracket after preliminary rounds at ACF Fall, but did well after rebracketing. The team was also rebracketed low at GIT XIV, but a round robin of the low-placed teams saw Harding go 3-0, defeating teams all to which they had lost earlier that day. The team took fourth place in a field of six at ACF Winter 2010, and sophomore Caleb Robbins was fourth in scoring.

At the 2010 Region 11 Division-II SCT at Missouri State, Harding finished third with a 9-3 record. Caleb Robbins finished first place in individual scoring (by PP20TH), and junior Ben Hale finished eighth in scoring.

Harding was represented at WUStL's mirror of the 2010 ACF Regionals by Caleb Robbins playing solo. He went 3-7 on the day, but finished third in overall scoring.

Caleb also represented Harding at MCMNT at the University of Illinois. While placing in the middle of the field, he finished second in overall scoring with 84 ppg.

2004-2008

These years were marked by the presence of Jason Loy. As a Quiz Bowl force with which to be reckoned, Jason led the team to several ICT appearances and numerous tournament wins. Jason was backed by other strong players, including Amanda Brown, Kolby Kuwitzky, and Ben Lamb.

After graduating from Harding, Jason Loy helped found a team at Missouri State and now coaches a high school team at Tuscumbia (MO) High School.

Members

Active

• Dr. Mark Elrod
  • Advisor/Coach
• Chris Kirk
  • Advisor/Coach
• Josh Duggins
  • Senior - History
• Esther Samuelson
  • Junior - History
• Mary O'Briant
  • Junior - Public Administration
• Alexis Fuller
  • Freshman - Chemistry
• Bill Marimbu
  • Freshman - Political Science
• Amadeus Sanchez
  • Freshman - Computer Science

Notable Alumni

• Amanda Brown
  • Class of '05
• J. Kolby Kuwitzky
  • Class of '05
• Ben Lamb
  • Class of '07
• Jason Loy
  • Class of '08
• Caleb McNiece
  • Class of '10
• Caleb Robbins
  • Class of '12