WPHS Advances to Second Round of 'The Challenge'

• Editor's Note: What follows is user-generated news. If you would like to post your news to Patch, click here for detailed instructions. The following is a press release from MSG Varsity

Quiz Show Showcases Best and Brightest Tri-State Area High School Students

BETHPAGE, NY, February 8, 2012 – “The Challenge” MSG Varsity’s award winning quiz show, heads into the second round featuring a match-up between Rye Country Day School and White Plains High School airing at a new time, 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, February 29, 2012 on Cablevision’s iO TV, Channel 14.  

Click here for a story on White Plains High School winning the title of Tri-State Champions of "The Challenge," in 2011.

“We got off to a great start with so many close games in the first round and expect the competition to heat up as we head towards the Championship rounds,” said Theresa Chillianis, MSG Varsity’s General Manager.

“We love the support displayed by the schools and communities as they vie for the Tri-State Championship.”

Back for his third season as host of “The Challenge” is Jared Cotter, host of “MSG Varsity’s Talent Show” and a popular semi-finalist from American Idol.  

Cotter will serve as moderator, testing competing teams on their knowledge of history, arts and literature, current events, math, and science in front of a live studio audience.

The White Plains team is represented by Eric Smiley, Adam Jaffe (Captain), Jens Sannerud, Aneesh Bhattacharya and Benjamin Van-Doren (Alternate). The academic advisors are Les Roby and Felix Reyes.

“The Challenge” includes 192 high schools from the entire tri-state area — Long Island (with Nassau and Suffolk as two distinct regions), the Bronx, Brooklyn, Westchester/Lower Hudson Valley, New Jersey and Connecticut.

This season, Long Island will be represented by 32 high schools from Nassau County and 32 high schools from Suffolk County.

A new match-up can been seen every Sunday through Friday at 6:30 pm, on MSG Varsity, Cablevision’s iO TV, Channel 14.  

Participating schools advance through a series of elimination rounds, with one school in each region being crowned regional champion and winning $2,500 for their school. The winning teams from each region go on to “The Challenge” Championship where they square off in a Tri-State Showdown.

The school awarded the title of Tri-State Champion will receive $10,000 in prize money and each student participating in the final “Challenge” Championship game will receive $500.

About MSG Varsity

MSG Varsity is a multi-platform suite of services comprised of: an Emmy award-winning 24/7 HD television network, a comprehensive online destination, and a groundbreaking interactive service, all dedicated to high school sports, academics and activities happening throughout the tri-state area.  

Content for these services includes MSG Varsity’s professionally produced programming as well as content created by the high schools themselves.  

Working in partnership with MSG Varsity, students and faculty are given extraordinary access to curriculum and training in multimedia creation and distribution, empowering them to become active participants in telling their school’s stories. 

MSG Varsity is a Cablevision exclusive service not available to satellite or phone company TV subscribers and reaches three million households throughout the New York market.  For more information, please visit www.msgvarsity.com.

Like us on  Facebook  (facebook.com/WhitePlainsPatch) and follow us on  Twitter (twitter.com/WhtPlainsPatch)