The University of North Alabama Esports team ended the semester with a perfect season.

The Lions recently captured the Fall 2024 College Halo National Championship with a 10-0 season and 4-0 in the postseason with three wins over York College Pennsylvania in the finals on Nov. 22.

“I’ve been chasing something like this since 2007 when I was 15 and Halo 3 had just released,” said Dillon White, who goes by the gamertag Odin, in a news release. “Obviously, we still feel as though the job isn’t finished, and we have much more to accomplish. But this was definitely a childhood dream come true.”

The team includes White, as well as Colton Smith (StanTheCarMan), Chase Miller (Kiljxy), and Nick Morris (Zenny).

The Lions were victorious this season over teams from Mississippi State, Clemson, Pennsylvania State and Oklahoma.

Halo is a popular first-person shooter series first released in 2001. The latest edition, Halo Infinite, was released in 2021. Multiplayer battles require not just weapon skills and speed but also communication.

“We often struggled through the semester in certain maps when our comms would get low energy, and we would play just about as flat as the comms would get,” Smith said. “Being able to screen and be the hype man for the team really helped give everyone the energy we needed the entire tournament.”

The teams practice multiple times a week and watch gameplay videos to prepare. Miller said it was an honor to represent the school.

“I really hope that this win helps cement Esports in the foundation of UNA, and, if any students who happen to play games think they have something to contribute or want to help in any way, reach out and become part of the growing scene.”

UNA won the National Esports Collegiate Competition title in 2021 playing Overwatch, a popular first-person shooter game and were divisional leaders in the shooter game Valorant and League of Legends, a multiplayer online battle arena game, last year.