Merrimack Defeats Portsmouth High

GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE

What singer had her breakthrough with the 2008 album The Fame? The answer - Lady Gaga - helped Merrimack stay ahead of Portsmouth during an extremely competitive final round on this week's Granite State Challenge.

As Merrimack High School took on Portsmouth High School, a flurry of questions in the final minutes of the game included answers as varied as philosopher John Locke, electronegativity, and The Hulk. The final score was 580 to 480.

The Merrimack Tomahawks were represented by captain Scott Peyton, Alex Jobin, Nick Marcus, and Sophie Kim, with alternates Eric Hilton and Troy Church. They were coached by Sara Campbell. The Portsmouth Clippers were represented by captain Chithra Singareddy, Ethan Fuller, Andrew Rodgers, and Tighe Clough, as well as alternate Stuart Johnson. They were coached by Hannah Dul and Brendan Harrington.

Merrimack now advances to the semifinals of Granite State Challenge, where they will meet Salem High School. This match will pit husband and wife coaches against each other. Sara Campbell, the coach of Merrimack will meet her husband Bernie Campbell, the coach of Salem. The Campbells have a long history on Granite State Challenge. They met while playing for Salem High School, and Bernie was a member of the Salem team that won the 1998 championship against Derryfield. He hopes to become the first person to win a championship as both a player and a coach.

Hosted by Jim Jeannotte, Granite State Challenge features New Hampshire's top high school academic quiz teams as they demonstrate remarkable teamwork, quick thinking and smarts to beat the clock and buzz in first on this iconic New Hampshire game show. The game emphasizes quick recall of math, science, social studies, language arts, and fine arts facts - along with questions about current events, entertainment, sports, and New Hampshire.

GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE is funded by lead sponsor Unitil; with additional funding from NEA New Hampshire, Heinemann Publishing, New Hampshire Lottery, D.F. Richard Energy, HRC, Measured Progress, The NHHEAF Network Organization and Super Sunday partner, Manchester Community College.