{"id":1874,"date":"2016-05-08T18:20:35","date_gmt":"2016-05-08T23:20:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maryville.edu\/mpress\/?p=1874"},"modified":"2019-01-24T13:31:23","modified_gmt":"2019-01-24T19:31:23","slug":"esports-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maryville.edu\/mpress\/esports-championship\/","title":{"rendered":"Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ Esports Wins League of Legends National Championship"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reading time: 2 minutes<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

In its first season in the C-Star League Division 1, Ä¢¹½´«Ã½\u2019s Esports club team captured the League of Legends championship at\u00a0Dreamhack, held in Austin, Texas, considered the biggest tournament in North America history. Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ ended the season undefeated, with a 40-0 record.<\/p>\n

Student-athletes Andrew \u201cCackgod\u201d Smith, Cody \u201cWalrus\u201d Altman, Tony \u201cSaskio\u201d Chau, John \u201cPapachau\u201d Le, and Marko \u201cPrototype\u201d Sosnicki comprise the winning team. They defeated McMaster University \u2013 Canada in the championship round on Sunday, May 8. Earlier, they defeated the University of Waterloo \u2013 Canada. The best of three match-ups were held back to back, and involved a total of four consecutive hours of play.<\/p>\n

\u201cA big shout out to the players for putting the work all season long,\u201d said Dan \u201cClerkie\u201d Clerke, team coordinator. \u201cIt\u2019s hard work to be a professional gamer and go to school. They put in 14 hours a day, practicing every spare minute.\u201d<\/p>\n

A group of faculty, staff and parents accompanied Ä¢¹½´«Ã½\u2019s team to the grand finals, including Jarrett Fleming, coordinator of Athletics and Recreation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a huge boost for our growing club sports program, and we\u2019re just getting started,\u201d Fleming said. \u201cDan and the Esports team have worked hard to help build a successful program. Their championship really puts us on the map in Esports.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve put in a lot of hard work setting up Esports at Ä¢¹½´«Ã½, and it feels great to finish up with the season with a championship,\u201d Clerke said.<\/p>\n

The tournament was broadcast online at\u00a0www.twitch.tv<\/strong><\/a>, a website that caters specifically to the Esports industry covering the top players, tournaments, and leagues. The Esports industry is estimated to soon be a $1.9 billion worldwide endeavor.<\/p>\n

Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ was one of the first schools in the country to offer scholarships for Esports.<\/p>\n

Thank you Rene Knott<\/a> of KSDK Newschannel 5 for dropping by and interviewing the team!<\/p>\n