The 2017 Canterbury Region Geography Quiz Competition – Maatangi Whenua, was held on Thursday 24 August at the John Britten Building, part of the Engineering Department at the University of Canterbury.

GTEAMs 9th and 10th in Canterbury

This year SBHS entered two Gteams. SBHS Gold consisted of Chevy Hira, Josh Overend and Mitchell Lilley and SBHS Blue members were Tom Herbert, Adam Lewington and Liam Walker.

These boys were under immense pressure to add a third Canterbury  title for SBHS after some average performances over the past few years. The boys were feeling confident after their sterling preparation under the watchful eye of their classroom teachers – Mr Keats and Mr Wilson-Pyne. However there was a heavy burden of expectation and pressure.

This year there were a total of 30 teams – representing schools from as far afield as Rangiora and Timaru. The SBHS gteams started strongly, scoring well in the current events round.

The usual masterful modelling efforts from SBHS teams were seen again this year in the Playdoh modelling round and ‘Believe or Not’ questions.

At the end of the round robin, SBHS teams finished 9th and 10th. Unfortunately, 1st place went to STAC 1 – their first ever victory in the competition.

This result is a credit to the 2016 SBHS Gteam, and the Year 11 Geography teachers Mr Keats and Mr Wilson-Pyne. They should be proud of their efforts. If the boys continue in this vein of Geography, they can ultimately make the New Zealand Geography Olympiad Team. We have had excellent performances in the past and this has led to boys travelling to Taipei and Poland to compete for New Zealand.