News

Gaynstead High ekes out win

By WNDEKA GAYLE, Staff Reporter

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Dujon Dunn, Andre Murphy, Grace-Ann Howell, Barrington Fearon (captian), members of the winning Gaynstead High School Challenge Quiz team.

THOUGH ALREADY SEASONED in the proceedings of Round One of TVJ's School Challenge Quiz, Spanish Town's Johnathan Grant, and their opponents, Kingston's, Gaynstead High, performed below average in a match aired last night. The match was a low-scoring one, with the scores close until the last question when Gaynstead triumphed 17-14.

Although presenter Francois St. Juste, injected much energy into the match perhaps in anticipation of a thrilling contest, the scores at the end of Section One were Gaynstead four, Johnathan Grant, two.

Sigh of relief

Johnathan Grant was first to score after both teams each gave four consecutive incorrect answers prompting the moderator to exclaim, "There you go, you got that!" The audience seemed to release a collective sigh of relief. That, however, did nothing to raise the standard of the match. Four minutes in the scores read 1-1.

In Section Two, the speed segment, things did not improve much, though at the end, Gaynstead was one point ahead leading 9 to 8. Based on the questions posed to both teams, it was evident that both schools allowed nervousness, lack of co-ordination, or general weakness in the areas of General Knowledge, Cultural Affairs, Languages and Mathematics to dictate the outcome.

In the buzzer segment, the audience supporters of both teams became increasingly agitated. When the moderator asked, who was the artiste that sings Crazy in Love with American R & B singer, Beyonce. Johnathan Grant pressed the buzzer and shouted, "Sean Paul!" A student of Johnathan Grant immediately put down her head and began to howl in tears. It took a few of her schoolmates to calm her down.

"They had the questions to win the matches but they did not take control of the game," Johnathan Grant's coach, Shawn Henry told THE STAR afterwards. "It was just a case of nerves."

One team member muttered, "It was the AC (air conditioning) we were sitting in so long.)

Gaynstead's team also used the three-hour wait before the start as an excuse for their poor perfornace. "We were tired. We were here from after nine, so we were a bit drowsy," Gaynstead's captain, Barrington Fearon said with nonchalance.

Unfamiliar

Gaynstead's coach, Omar Williams, said that though they had practised using tapes of past School Challenge quizzes, a lot of the questions were unfamiliar. "I think they were a little nervous too," he said. "Sometimes they had to train by themselves because I had four C.X.C. clases to teach."

(Look out for the report on the next match between St. Elizabeth High and Excelsior.)