St Jago High yesterday secured its spot in the quarter-finals of TVJ's Schools' Challenge Quiz by defeating Wolmer's Girls.

The teams considered their performance in the match below standard, with St. Jago High scoring 35 points to Wolmer's Girls' score of nine points.

However, for members of the Wolmer's team, it seemed defeat was evident. Marissa Murdock, a member of the team, said that they felt that even if they were very well prepared, they still would have lost. "We didn't capitalise on all the opportunities we got,. Even if we had been well prepared, Jago was the better team and they would have won," she said.

Paul Thomas, coach of the team, had similar sentiments. "I have been playing fragile all season because its a new dispensation. We are in a rebuilding stage right now. I wanted to get back in the last 16 seed and we have done that," he said

Despite their loss the students congratulated St Jago and vowed to return next year, 'bigger and better'. "We still thank God for the opportunity to reach this far," Alecia Abrahams, captain of the Wolmer's Girls team, said.

Below par

Meanwhile Greig Drummond, captain of the St Jago team, also admitted that their performance was below par. "Honestly, I don't think we performed up to the best of our potential. Yes, the minutes (segment) is our strongest section, but we will work on the other areas," he said.

He noted that in future they will be seeking to remain focused and do what is expected of them.

Frank Weise, a coach of the St Jago team, said they will be correcting the problems in the future. "They have performed below par and there is something that I do not wish to comment on that needs to be addressed for the next match," he said.

He noted, however, that all the matches were a learning experience and they will be evaluating, noting the shortcomings and fixing them.