By Erica Bush ’25 

After a fierce competition at the Great Lakes Athletic Trainers Association (GLATA) Quiz Bowl, three senior athletic training students will advance to compete in the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) Quiz Bowl in June in Indianapolis. 

The competition started for three Otterbein students — Leah McNutt, Mamadu Nabe, and Olivia Teague — in November 2022 at the Ohio Athletic Trainers’ Association (OATA) Quiz Bowl, which they won. Two other athletic training seniors, Kalie Siereveld and Courtney Cress, also attended the OATA Quiz Bowl. 

The OATA Quiz Bowl invites every university in Ohio with an athletic training program to send a team of three students to compete in a “jeopardy style” competition.  

“The board is made up of six different categories with five questions per category of different point values. You get more of the total points the faster you buzz in,” said Joe Wilkins, senior instructor and coordinator of clinical education of the athletic training program. “At the end of the first round, the top three programs at the OATA Quiz Bowl make it to the second round.” 

Otterbein’s team won the OATA Quiz Bowl and advanced to the GLATA Quiz Bowl, which was held in Chicago in March. The GLATA Quiz Bowl pitted the winning teams from the state quiz bowls of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois against each other.  

“We faced adversity in the GLATA Quiz Bowl. We were down by about 5,000 points going into ‘final jeopardy,’” said McNutt. “However, we pulled through with the win from ‘final jeopardy.’” 

Now, Otterbein’s team will advance to the NATA Quiz Bowl this summer. This is the second time in history that Otterbein will advance to the NATA Quiz Bowl. 

“My most valuable takeaway from this experience is the value of preparation and really sitting down and studying hard for something that you want, because now I really want to win the national quiz bowl which is our next goal,” said Teague. 

After graduating from Otterbein, McNutt plans to be a physician extender and to attend physical therapy school in the fall of 2024. Teague will have a residency with Ohio University at Dublin after her graduation working in athletic training in pediatrics.