Merrimack High Defeats The Academy for Science and Design

(DURHAM, April 5, 2024) - The Academy for Science and Design fell to defending champ Merrimack High in the first Quarterfinal Game of Granite State Challenge.

Playing for the Academy for Science and Design was captain and senior Chris Stemporzewski along with seniors Vidya Nandakumar and Daniel Ryckman, junior Pranav Grover, and team alternates juniors Danny Sargent and Edward Emerson. The team was coached by social studies teacher Shawn Kraus. The Academy for Science and Design is a public charter school located in Nashua and enrolls around 190 students.

Playing for Merrimack High were captain and senior Kishan Sreenivasan joined by seniors Liam Clark and Trey Grant, and junior Erin Murray. The team alternates were junior Shelby Pennington and sophomore Avis Clever. Merrimack was coached by chemistry teacher Dr. Sara Campbell and Gifted and Talented Coordinator Sally Agel. Merrimack enrolls around 1,094 students.

ROUND ONE

Pranav of the Academy for Science and Design kicked off the game with a question about Alan Shepard, and Trey of Merrimack picked up the next 10 points with a question about the character Lumiere from the Disney film, Beauty and the Beast. Merrimack's Kishan picked up 30 points in the round on questions about LBJ and William Howard Taft and he also calculated the area of a circle. Chris picked up 30 points for the Academy for Science and Design on questions about the play The Crucible, the translation of the phrase "cogito, ergo sum" and the names of the two dwarfs in the Disney movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs whose names began with the letter D. Merrimack's Trey added 50 points to the board on questions about New Orleans, Ted Williams, the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company, the circumference of the Earth and by knowing that Vermont is one of seven states with only one Representative in the U.S. House of Representatives. Erin added 50 points to Merrimack's total on questions about marathons, George Washington, the Venus De Milo, polo, and Achilles. Daniel added 20 points to the board for The Academy for Science and Design on questions about chess and prairie dogs. And Vidya added another 10 points to the Academy For Science and Design's score on a question about the number of events in a decathlon.  Merrimack's Liam picked up 10 points for his team with a question about cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. At the end of the round Merrimack led by a score of 150-70.

THREE STRIKES AND YOU'RE OUT ROUND
In the Three Strikes and You're Out Round, each team picks a 10-question category and each team member, starting with the captain, gets one question. The team continues to answer questions until they miss three questions. Each team also has three passes in each round. If a team answers all 10 questions correctly, they pick up an additional 10 points.  The Academy for Science and Design went first. Chris picked up 30 points in the round and Pranav picked up 10 points in the round. Merrimack's Kishan picked up 30 points, Erin and Liam each added 20 points and Trey added another 10 points for a total of 80 points, and the round ended with Merrimack extending their lead to 230-110. 

60-SECOND ROUND
In the 60-Second Round alternates join their teams. Each team picks a ten-question category and has 60 seconds to answer the questions. If they answer all ten correctly, teams get a 10-point bonus. Team members can confer in the round, but the captain answers.

The Academy for Science and Design chose the category "Best Be." All the answers in the category began with the letters B and E. They almost had a perfect run, missing only one question and adding 90 points,  narrowing the score to 230-200.

Merrimack chose the category "Oh, the Places You'll Never Go." All of the answers in the category were fictional locations. Merrimack answered all 10 questions correctly and picked up 110 points in the round, bringing the score to 340-200.

FINAL ROUND
In the game's final round, each correct answer is worth 20 points, but teams lose 20 points with an incorrect answer, and a lead can be easily lost or gained in the round. The first question in the round was the Unitil Power Question worth 40 points. Liam picked up the points for Merrimack on a question about a power play in hockey.  Erin picked up 20 points on a question about the song "Heartbreak Hotel" and her teammate Kishan added another 20 points to their score on a question about Jackson Pollock. Merrimack was now out to a 420-200 lead. Despite correct answers from The Academy for Science and Design's Chris, Daniel, and Vidya in the round and two incorrect answers by Merrimack, The Academy for Science and Design was unable to catch up, and the game ended with Merrimack winning by a score of 460-280.

Merrimack High now moves on to the Semifinals where they will meet the winner of the second quarterfinal game between Souhegan High and Trinity High airing Thursday, April 11  at 7:30 pm 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 some of New Hampshire's brightest high school students 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 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, D.F. Richard Energy, and HRCU.

Pressroom Contact

Carla Gordon Russell
Director of Communications
crussell@nhpbs.org
(603) 868-4339