Albany State University has qualified to compete at the 2018 Honda Campus All-Star Challenge National Championship Tournament, a prestigious competition that showcases the academic prowess of the brightest students from America’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

The national championship, which will be held Saturday, April 7 – Wednesday, April 11, invites over 10,000 talented students from HBCUs around the country to Los Angeles, California, to compete for a $75,000 grand prize in the academic tournament. Funds will be used for scholarships and program development.

Sixty-seven HBCUs vied for a spot at the nationals during the qualifying tournaments held Feb. 2 -3 in Washington, D.C. Albany State received a top-seeded spot at nationals after defeating two undefeated teams, Howard University and Cheyney University.

In California, participants will be split into eight divisions and will compete in a modified round-robin format. The top two teams from each division will advance to the "Sweet 16" and will compete in a single elimination playoff. The final two teams that emerge from the playoffs will compete to become the national champion.

This will be the ASU’s third year competing at the national championship. The team is led by Coach John Williams, assistant professor of biology in the ASU Department of Biological Sciences.

Honda Campus All-Star Challenge team members:

Norma Davis ( A Team Captain), biology major

Spencer Touat, forensic science major

Mercedes Fortune, forensic science major

Kennady Wright, mathematics major

Alexis Taylor (B Team Captain), forensic science major

Kristin Martin, chemistry major

Brandi Simpson, mass communication major

Brenda Simpson, mass communication major