After a challenging season and nail-biting competition, Carson Middle School National Academic League team members can rest easy because they brought home the national championship title.

The Carson Middle School team competed in the league finals against Mesa (Ariz.) United School District's Stapley Junior High School last week.

"I'm not really sporty, but I'm just tickled for these children," said Cris Ruffolo, a GOAL teacher and National Academic League coach.

Ben Ziolkowski, a seventh-grader, even put in some extra studying time in the week prior to the championship match in preparation for the competition, but said the team couldn't have won without each other.

"I think we did well as a whole," Ben said. "We can rely on each other."

The road to the national championship title wasn't an easy one for the students.

Joe Murphy, a seventh-grader on the team, said the championship was a real challenge and he was worried going into the fourth quarter of the final match.

Ryan Sanguigni, a seventh-grader, agreed. Ryan said "The nerves" felt in during the match were the hardest part of the competition.

"I thought at the end we might lose," Ryan said. "They were buzzing in a lot faster."

The Carson Middle School team competed neck-and-neck with the opposing team but came out on top with a final score of 62-52.

"I can't squeal as high as I want to," said Katya Borisov, a seventh-grader on the team. "I just can't contain my excitement, and I couldn't feel better."

The national matches were played via videoconferencing. The Carson team went to Kinko's in Cranberry to face teams from North Carolina, Texas, Utah and Arizona.