MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Two undergraduate student teams from Mississippi State University with an interest in muscle foods took top honors during their first appearance at the American Meat Science Association Intercollegiate Quiz Bowl.

The two MSU teams, a collaborative effort between the Departments of Animal and Dairy Sciences, and Food Science, Nutrition and Health Promotion, won first and second place among 20 collegiate teams from across the country. They competed at the 2008 Reciprocal Meat Conference in Gainesville, Fla., June 22 and 23.

The first place maroon team included Joe Buntyn, a junior from Union; Jonathan Greene, a senior from Birmingham; and Emily Irwin, a junior from Carrollton.

The second place white team consisted of Megan Bullard, a junior from Southaven; Tribetta Spears, a senior from Jackson; Jenny Heath, a senior from Memphis; and alternate Rebecca Stiles, from West Helena, Ark.

“This is only the second time a university has had two teams compete in the final round. That is a fairly historic event in itself, but it’s especially remarkable since MSU has never competed before,” said Benjy Mikel, head of MSU’s Department of Food Science, Nutrition and Health Promotion.

“The quiz bowl is a very intense and well-known competition. We were proud to have one team finish in the finals, much less two,” Mikel added.

The quiz bowl is designed to encourage interaction among students from different universities, increase student interest in the area of meat science and provide a field for friendly competition within academia.

Shollie Behrends, MSU muscle food graduate student and team coach, said the 20 teams were divided into a double elimination bracket. The teams were asked 40 questions per round to test their knowledge in meat science.

Topics included muscle biochemistry, nutrition, meats evaluation, growth and development, muscle contraction, harvest procedures, and rules, regulations and history of meat science.

Each team and each individual received a plaque.