HAMPTON ROADS, Va. – (Feb. 4, 2005) – Tidewater Community College’s team of respiratory therapists can take a well-deserved breather.

After months of study and practice, the students took first place in the state’s academic competition - the Sputum Bowl of Virginia - topping teams from colleges and universities across the state.

Led by Gary Cross, program director, the TCC contestants’ success is nothing to spit at - it qualified them for the National Sputum Bowl held in New Orleans during the 50th Annual Respiratory Congress. At the nationals, Cross took the group - competing against a team from every state in the nation - through three of five rounds as they answered rigorous questions in areas such as microbiology, physics, anatomy, pharmacology, ventilators, patient assessment and oxygen therapy.

“I’m so proud of our team. They worked hard and did well against students from some big-name schools,” says Cross, who teaches the program from the Virginia Beach Campus.

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Tidewater Community College is the second largest of the 23 community colleges in the Commonwealth of Virginia, enrolling more than 35,000 students annually. The 37th largest in the nation’s 1,600 community-college network, TCC ranks among the 50 fastest-growing large community colleges. Founded in 1968 as a part of the Virginia Community College System, the college serves the South Hampton Roads region with campuses in Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach as well as the TCC Jeanne and George Roper Performing Arts Center in the theater district in downtown Norfolk, the Visual Arts Center in Olde Towne Portsmouth and a regional Advanced Technology Center in Virginia Beach. Forty-four percent of the region’s residents attending a college or university in Virginia last fall were enrolled at TCC. For more information, visit www.tcc.edu