The St Jago team pose with the TVJ Schools' Challenge Quiz Championship trophy. - Collin Hamilton
Just before the finals of Television Jamaica Schools' Challenge Quiz on Thursday night, the results of a call in-poll suggested that St Jago would take home the victory.
The public was right, as the team from St Catherine were indeed victorious, defeating their opponents from Glenmuir 45-39, in an impressive comeback.
With less than five seconds to go and more than four points separating them from their opponents, the St Jago team began to celebrate their victory. Their outstretched arms and eyes firmly fixed on the clock showed that they knew it was over.
Greig Drummond, captain of the winning team, told THE STAR, "We are used to the pressure. Glenmuir did this to us in a few practice matches and last year we came from behind to beat them in the third round. We did some practices with KC, too, and we want to thank their coach Valmore Stewart. He helped us a lot and he motivated us."
Kept focus
Members of the St Jago High team which won TVJ's Schools' Challenge Quiz competition pose with the TVJ Championship trophy with chairman of the RJR Group, Lester Spaulding (left), coach Leroy Johnson (second left) and Frank Weise (right). - Collin Hamilton
Drummond told THE STAR that he was looking forward to enjoying his trip to the Bahamas and added, "An di $100,000. Jezam peace!"
Another team member, Kayodi Drake, shared his pre-match thoughts with THE STAR: "Going into the match, we had a good dose of confidence. We practised a lot. We just needed to go out and give it our all. Glenmuir had the better part of the match, but we kept focused. All in all, it was a good match. We got support from our fans and we knew the school was rooting for us. I'm glad we came out with the victory."
Though the Glenmuir team, had the lead throughout the match and even into the third section, they simply could not keep up with St Jago's fire. Clement Radcliffe, principal of Glenmuir High, told THE STAR after the match, "It was a very good match. Both teams worked hard. The team that got the questions they are familiar with did well. Congratulations to the St Jago team. Especially for them to come from behind was good."
Romario Thomas, captain of the Glenmuir team, added, "We played the match according to plan in the first and second sections. We played with superior energy to St Jago but some of the guys were a bit tentative and we didn't quite get it together and Jago stepped in."
"This final was to prove a point," he said, " A lot of people expected us to drop out in the second round against Hampton, but we proved we were a good team."
He also said he was not sure if team would be returning next year. The Glenmuir team: Romario Thomas, Darrien Barton, Rojay Gordon, and Mark Sterling.
The St Jago team: Greig Drummond, Kayodi Drake, Romeo Lee, and Aundrae Brown.