A three-way tiebreaker to decide the champions of the Otago Daily Times Extra! current events quiz last night was a first for the Central Otago round of the contest.
With 44 teams involved in the years 7 and 8 event, held at Cromwell, quiz co-ordinator and Extra! editor Ivan Behrnes said it was unusual for the competition to be so close after the final round.
Three teams were tied on 92 points out of 100 after the 10 rounds of the contest finished and two tiebreaker questions were used to determine the winners.
A Queenstown Primary School team, comprising Noah Gregory, Jake Finnigan and Mitchell Kay, was top after answering the second tiebreaker question correctly, based on ''just a guess'' by Noah.
Naming famous faces was the hardest round for the team, they said.
Jake and Mitchell had entered before but Mitchell said his team finished last at last year's contest.
The runners-up, second-equal, were two Holy Family School teams, from Wanaka.
A Holy Family team was also second in the Extra! spelling quiz earlier this year, after losing a tiebreaker, they said.
Queenstown Primary School was on a roll, with another team winning the years 5 and 6 contest, the best out of 32 teams, earlier in the day.
The winners, with 90 points, were first-time competitors Matthew Moore, Cameron Scobie and Maz Gregory - the younger brother of years 7 and 8 winner Noah.
Maz arrived at the venue only after seven rounds had been completed, as his parents thought both age-group quizzes started at the same, later, time.
Matthew and Cameron were unfazed by the late arrival of their team-mate.
They said the cartoon section of the contest was the hardest. As well as reading the newspaper every day, the boys also read the news online and watched it on television.
The Terrace 2 (Alexandra) was second, one point behind the winners, and Roxburgh Area School 1 third on 87 points.
Teams from every high school in the wider Central Otago district will converge on Cromwell tonight for the years 9 and 10 current events quiz.
Thirty-six teams, each made up of three pupils, will vie for top honours.
The Otago Daily Times Extra! quizzes are a part of the newspaper's Class Act programme, which celebrates the excellence of young people.
More than 3000 pupils take part in the annual Extra! spelling and current events quizzes.
