Merrimack Valley HS Advances to Quarterfinals of Granite State Challenge

(DURHAM, January 13, 2011) – Merrimack Valley High School and Belmont High School were neck and neck during last night's Granite State Challenge match until the last two minutes of the game, when Merrimack Valley pulled ahead to defeat Belmont 305 to 240. Catch Granite State Challenge Wednesdays at 6 p.m. and again Saturdays at 8:30 a.m. on New Hampshire Public Television, and always online.The winning Merrimack Valley Lions included seniors Alex Williams, Nathan Merrow, Maya Westcott, Henry Bendel, Derek Blunt, and junior David Pivia. They were coached by Brett Thompson. Their opponents, the Belmont Red Raiders, included seniors Peter Chynoweth and Courtney Clary, as well as juniors Adlai Gordon, Holly Julian and Kathy Lipshultz. They were coached by Kevin Charleston.Merrimack Valley will play the winner of next week's match between Con-Val Regional High School and Trinity High School.TUNE IN WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 19 @ 6 p.m. CON-VAL REGIONAL HIGH SCHOOL vs. TRINITY HIGH SCHOOLTune in each Wednesday night @ 6 p.m. and follow your favorite teams' progress. The popular quiz contest begins with 32 Granite State high school teams battling toward the coveted SuperChallenge title. There are four single-elimination rounds leading to the final contest in April. If you missed a match and want to see how your favorite team fared, watch Granite State Challenge online at www.nhptv.org/gsc and on YouTube, or download it from the Granite State Challenge website or iTunes Music Store as a video podcast.Granite State Challenge brings New Hampshire's top high school academic teams head-to-head in spirited competition. The contest emphasizes quick recall of factual material in all major disciplines – math, science, social studies, language arts, and fine arts - along with a smattering of pop culture trivia and New Hampshire topics. Long-time host Jim Jeannotte asks the Challenge questions to the teams; co-host Lori Warriner interviews team members prior to the game.Funding for Granite State Challenge is provided by Public Service of New Hampshire, the Community College System of New Hampshire, Irving Oil, Markem-Imaje and the NHHEAF Network Organizations.

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