Academic Quadrathlon
2026 Academic Quadrathlon Competition
Sixteen teams representing more than 60 undergraduate students participated in this year's Academic Quadrathlon on October 25. Teams competed in four areas: practical stations, a written exam, oral presentations, and a team quiz bowl. The final scores were close, with only a small margin separating the top teams.
Congratulations to this year's top-placing teams!
First place:
- Winning Team: Team 5 - Emily Taylor, Savannah Rice, Grayson Long, and Eleanor Pekary
- 1st in Practical Stations, 2nd in Oral Presentations, 1st in Quiz Bowl, tied for 1st in Written Exams
- These ladies won the competition in 2025 and were prepared to represent Virginia Tech this past winter in Arkansas, but were unfortunately unable to attend due to the January ice storm. They brought even more heat to this year's competition and did a phenomenal job showing off their Virginia Tech SAS knowledge!
- They are now eligible to compete in the 2027 ASAS Southern Section meeting in Knoxville in February.
Second place was a tie between:
- Team 4 - Eva Goddard, Abby Burkhart, Ben Fine, Ayla Janney (2nd in Practical Stations, 3rd in Quiz Bowl, tied for 1st in Written Exams)
- Team 15 - Barb Rivera, Aden Anderson, Blake Caricofe, Jacob Stout (5th in Practical Stations, 1st in Oral Presentations, 2nd in Quiz Bowl)
What is Academic Quadrathlon?
The Academic Quadrathlon is a competition held at the local, regional, and national levels. Teams of four are made up of university undergraduate students. Winning collegiate teams move up to the next level of competition. The national winning team is determined at the American Society of Animal Science Annual Meeting held in the summer.
How does it work?
Teams participate in four events: Laboratory Practicum, Written Exam, Oral Presentation, and Quiz Bowl.
In the Laboratory Practicum, the team demonstrates its ability to perform physical skills. Work at each station lasts 15 minutes and involves the entire team. The work at each station usually involves a species such as beef or swine or a disciplinary area such as nutrition or meats. We will be traveling to the animal units on plantation road for hands-on experiences. The Written Exam will a 30-minute time limit. The questions may involve any area related to animal production and products. Each team works on one exam, dividing the questions as they wish. In the Oral Presentation, the students may choose from a list of topics related to animal agriculture. They have a set amount of time to prepare the presentation. This is an exercise in cooperative problem solving. In the Quiz Bowl, questions may be on any topic that relates to animal agriculture and that are answerable in a short period of time. Each round is made up of "toss up" questions. After a series of "toss up" questions, teams can earn the chance to get extra points on a "bonus" question. Toss up questions must be answered individually. For bonus question, individuals may confer with their team. Quiz games will be organized as double elimination tournament.
Who can be on a team?
Any current undergraduates (including those that graduate in December) from ANY major! Expand your team knowledge with a wide range of animal species experience.
How to enter:
Get your team together, or part of your team, or sign up as an individual to be assigned to fill in holes on teams.
Want to learn more? Contact the VT Academic Quadrathlon Coordinator - Erin Poteat at elpoteat@vt.edu - with any questions.
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Hokies compete in annual Academic Quadrathlon , articleTwelve teams brought their skill, collaboration, and Hokie Spirit to the challenge, competing for the chance to represent Virginia Tech at this year’s ASAS Southern Section meeting in Arkansas.
Date: Apr 22, 2026 -
First Place Team
Bruno Menza, Will Bonham, Jacob Porzeinski, and Ethan Reed.
Second Place Team
Daniela Enriquez Pineda, Cynthis Granados, Bella Caballero, Grace Knick
Third Place Team
Madelyn Fore, Olivia Gibson, Emily Fleegle
October 18, 2026
This past Sunday and Monday, four teams signed up to compete in the Academic Quadrathlon and test their knowledge against their peers. For the Academic Quadrathlon, students form a team of four individuals, usually with careful strategy to diversify their team to have knowledge in as many subject areas as possible.
For part one, the teams compete with a practical/stations section where they have 20 minutes to demonstrate skills and answer questions on 10 different subject areas. This year the teams completed many of these stations at Alphin Stuart Livestock Arena but additionally competed at the Swine Barn, Sheep Center, Beef Unit, Equitation Barn, and the Meats Lab. For part two, they have 30 minutes to prepare an oral presentation that is backed by research by selecting from a list of “current event topics” in Animal Sciences. They then reconvened on Monday for a written exam and the quiz bowl.
The placings are as follows:
First Place - $300 to the team plus travel and accommodations paid to compete at Southern Section ASAS meeting in January
- Team 4: Ruth Haile, Katie Powell, McKenzy Kirby, Giovanna Lungu
- Stations: 1st place; Oral Presentations: 1st Place; Written Exam: 1st Place; Quiz Bowl: 3rd Place
Second Place - $200 to the team
- Team 1: Bruna Sobral, Bonnie Shye, Jacob Porzeinski, Kelly Torres
- Stations: 2nd place; Oral Presentations: 3rd Place; Written Exam: Tied for 2nd Place; Quiz Bowl: 1st Place
Third Place - $100 to the team
- Team 3: Abby Lessy, Taylor Hall, Makaia Haight, Caitlin Fikes
- Stations: 3rd place; Oral Presentations: 2nd Place; Written Exam: Tied for 2nd Place; Quiz Bowl: 2nd Place
