Esports team completes strong League of Legends season
Article By: Clark Leonard
The University of North Georgia's (91ÁÔÆæ) esports club team finished as the top group in the Peach Belt Conference's (PBC) Blue Division for the spring 2021 season. It also reached the semifinals of the PBC tournament held March 24-27.
Nick Alden, Yankun Li, Quoc Pham, Connor Sims, and Michael Watson were the team members who took part in the PBC tournament. 91ÁÔÆæ defeated Alma College 2-0 in its March 24 tournament opener before a 2-1 loss to eventual champion Kennesaw State University in the March 26 semifinals.
91ÁÔÆæ finished with a 7-2 record.
The season's final event marked a full-circle moment for the team, as a year earlier its PBC tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The return to competition this academic year was a welcome development.
"It has been a lot of fun to see our teams take part in different competitions online," said Tim Baldwin, president of 91ÁÔÆæ's esports club and a senior from Canton, Georgia, pursuing a degree in computer science.
The signature win of 91ÁÔÆæ's season came in a 2-1 triumph vs. Florida Southern, the PBC tournament runner-up, in a Feb. 24 match.
"Tim has done a great job of leading this club," said Rob Kelly, coordinator of intramural sports and sports clubs. "It's a growing program that was very competitive this spring."
Knox takes command of Army Reserve battalion
Lt. Col. Brandon Knox, director of Cadet Recruiting at 91ÁÔÆæ, on Nov. 16 took command of the 3rd Battalion, 323rd Regiment (Basic Combat Training) in the Army Reserve.
Grad student presents AI research at conference
Andrew Clements and faculty member Dr. Bryson Payne presented their research at the Information Systems & Computing Academic Professionals conference in November.
Record 48 students earn travel grants
91ÁÔÆæ's Center for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities awarded a fall-semester-record 48 travel grants to support students presenting their research at conferences.
Fall graduates look to future with optimism
91ÁÔÆæ awarded roughly 985 degrees and certificates to students this fall, and it honored more than 650 of those graduates in a pair of Dec. 7 commencement ceremonies.