John Stark Regional Meets Merrimack High

Granite State Challenge - Round One

(DURHAM, January 26, 2023) - John Stark Regional High meets Merrimack High in the first game of the 41st season of Granite State Challenge on Thursday, February 2, 2023, at 7:30 pm on NHPBS.

Playing for John Stark Regional High are Captain and senior Sophia McGinty. She is joined by junior Brody Jones, senior Ben Prescott, and junior Connor Lavertu. The team alternates are junior Arik Linstad and senior Jackie O'Donnell. The team is coached by Michele KIrschbaum. John Stark High is located in Weare, NH, and enrolls around 500 students from Weare and Henniker.

Playing for Merrimack High are Captain and senior Jack Pikora joined by seniors Rainier Murray, Aris Corman-O’Reilly, and Alli Pikora. The team alternates are juniors Kishan Sreenivasan and Liam Clark. Merrimack is coached by Sara Campbell and Sally Agel. Merrimack enrolls around 1,119 students.

The winner of the game will move on to the quarterfinals where they will meet the winner of game two between Nashua South and Souhegan High airing Thursday, February 9 at 7:30 on NHPBS.

Hosted by Bow High School teacher and former Granite State Challenge coach (Bedford High), contestant (Belmont High), and Granite State Challenge crew member, Jon Cannon, 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.

You can follow your favorite team, test your own knowledge with GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE online quizzes, and more at the GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE web page or try your hands at daily brainteasers on the GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE Facebook page.

GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE is funded by lead sponsor Unitil; with additional funding from NEA New Hampshire, Safety Insurance, The New Hampshire Lottery, D.F. Richard Energy, Cognia, and HRCU.