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Gulfport High Wins 2010 Mississippi College Academic Competition


A flurry of questions on politics, literature, art and complex math problems were all in the mix during academic competition at Mississippi College's Leland Speed Library.

What began with 56 Mississippi schools was whittled to two teams. Gulfport High's team brought their "A" game as they edged Clinton High to win the annual event Tuesday on the Clinton campus.

Sponsored by the MC Office of Continuing Education, the 2010 event has been going on for more than 30 years at the Christian university.

It was the Gulfport team that answered first when moderator Melinda Gann, an MC math professor, asked participants to name two early U.S. vice presidents who became president. The correct answer: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.

The Gulfport team also fired off the right answer when asked to name the country music group that criticized former President George W. Bush a couple of years ago. One of the students blurted out Dixie Chicks to add a few more points to their lead over the Clinton Arrows' team.

The event was also a learning experience for members of the MC family. MC Department of Communication, including professor Reid Vance and a handful of students taped the program at the Learning Resource Center studio for airing at a later date.

The winning team from Gulfport High consisted of junior Kinsey Zanske, seniors Brad Lanier and James Brumbaugh and sophomore Zac Bodenhamer. They knew right away where President Franklin D. Roosevelt died in 1945. That would be Warm Springs, Ga.

Clinton High senior Stephen Leavelle,18, the son of math professor Tommy Leavelle, put in another outstanding performance for his school. He correctly answered many of the math problems and others that came his way. Stephen recently scored a perfect 36 on the American College Test.

But he said that Gann fired off lots of "tough questions" during the afternoon competition. Others on the Clinton High team were Lauren Weiss, Angie Rao and Morgan Philley.

Clinton High edged out Murrah High of Jackson Tuesday to make it to the finals. Gulfport defeated Jackson Prep to get there. The Clinton High team won the event last year.

"You have to be ready for anything," said Murrah High senior Evan Turnage, 17, minutes before he exited the MC library. The questions, he said, really cover more than a decade of learning - going back to elementary school. To get ready, he and other members of the Murrah team did lots of practice questions.

It came down to the final question as Clinton nosed out Murrah.

Debbie Norris, the MC vice president for planning and assessment and the university's graduate school dean, presented Gulfport team members with a nice award to bring back to the Gulf Coast.

"It gets fairly animated," Gulfport's Brumbaugh said of the academic competition. "We are always on our A game. We get the adrenalin in our regional competition every Monday."

Knowing little-known facts about history and geography, he said, are the strong suits of the Gulfport team.

For Reid Vance, the event was a reminder of the time the professor took part in the academic competition during his MC student days. MC students Stephen Ginn of Madison, Hannah Southerland of Natchez and Don Thomas were among those handling the behind-the scenes work for the MC Communication Department production.