ANN ARBOR—The University of Michigan Academic Competition team won the 2000 College Bowl, Inc. National Championship for the third time in five years and earned a $10,000 prize for U-M Student Life organizations.

The squad beat 15 other collegiate teams earlier this spring in topics ranging from biochemistry to religion, answering trivia questions in a Jeopardy-style format. The team was selected from the 32-member U-M program and trained for this competition throughout the year by studying, scrimmaging, and attending other tournaments.

“It felt great to win, especially after last year’s close loss to our rival, the University of Chicago,” said team captain Michael Davidson, a junior in the U-M College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA). “If they’re the Yankees, we’re the Red Sox. Except we win.”

Team members: LSA seniors Craig D. Barker and Michelle LaLonde-Reaume of Livonia, Mich.; Engineering sophomore Steve Traicoff of Northville, Mich.; LSA Junior Noel Erinjeri of Flint, Mich.; LSA junior and team captain Michael Davidson of Waterford, Mich.

Team record: U-M is now one of only three schools to have won three College Bowl National Championships (others are University of Minnesota and University of Chicago), and the first team to appear in three consecutive College Bowl National Championship final rounds.

Team performance: U-M’s attack was led by a 60.0 points-per-game performance by Davidson, who was named one of the tournaments’ eight all-stars.

Team members’ history: Barker, LaLonde, and Davidson all played on their second National Championship team; Davidson and Barker were members of the 1998 championship squad while LaLonde was a member of the 1996 title winner. LaLonde also coached the 1998 and 1999 squads before “coming out of retirement” to play as she finished her BGS degree this season.

Prize: The victory included a $10,000 Student Life grant provided by tournament sponsor Ford Motor Company to the University.

For more information, contact Davidson at mdavidso@umich.edu or visit http://www.umich.edu/~uac/mac. For information about College Bowl Inc., visit http://www.collegebowl.com.