Ashburton Intermediate pupils brainstormed their way into first place at the Otago Daily Times Extra! Central South Island years 7 and 8 quiz last night.
Matthew Wong, Sam Orr and Amelie Dick-Robertson answered 95 out of 100 questions correctly during the evening's event, held at Timaru Boys' High School.
Matthew said the trio had been ''quite surprised'' to find themselves in first place partway through the quiz, competing against 35 other teams from around the region.
However, with a few practices under their belts and a track record for gaining a placing in previous quizzes, the team was well prepared to win the event, he said.
Gleniti No2 came in second on 90 points, followed by Grantlea Downs School on 89.
The intermediate competition followed the years 5 and 6 quiz held earlier in the day, which was won by Temuka Primary.
Thirty-two teams from around the Central South Island gathered to show off their current events knowledge, with the Temuka No1 team of Brylee Crawford, Marissa Shannon and Zoe Spillane answering 93 of 100 questions correctly.
The primary-age quiz was a close competition with Gleniti No2 coming in second with 91 points, while their schoolmates in Gleniti No1 took third place just one point behind.
Questions covered world politics including American President Donald Trump, the America's Cup and Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as New Zealand celebrities, including pop musician Lorde and canoeist Lisa Carrington, and a quiz on world flags.
The region's years 9 and 10 teams are set to compete at Timaru Boys' High School this afternoon.
The event was run by the Otago Daily Times, through Extra!, its monthly Newspapers in Education publication for primary, intermediate and junior secondary school pupils.
-By Greta Yeoman
-Additional reporting by Alexia Johnston
