2001 Gloucester

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Above:
2001 Gloucester team. L to R: Green, Poulin, Kufsky, O'Neill, coach Jeacle, Abunafeesa

The 2000-01 team from Gloucester High School in Ottawa won the Reach for the Top national championship. They had previously won with the 1998 Gloucester team.

Despite losing to Lisgar (captained by a tenth grade Tamara Vardomskaya) for the city title, they defeated UTS first in the the Ontario finals, then again in the national final. The game-winning question was: "I was born in Grand Pre. Who am I?" - for 40 points before time ran out. Gloucester would reach the provincial playoffs again in 2002, losing to the rookie sensation CHAT team.

Interestingly (and newsworthy enough for their Citizen article), O'Neill was captain of both the Reach team and the football team. One member of the team was 20 years old at the time of the championship, but was able to participate because of Reach's Rule #1.

An anonymous donor provided $5000 to help pay for the team's trip to the national championship in Edmonton. The benefactor was likely the same individual that donated money for Merivale's trip the year before.

Members

Captain: Connor O'Neill

Regulars: Gihad Abunafeesa, Chris Green, James Kufsky, Eric Poulin

Reference

"Gloucester High team reaches the top" by Anne McCulloch in The Ottawa Citizen, June 1, 2001, page D3.

Reach for the Top Champion
Preceded by
Year
Succeeded by
Merivale
2001
UTS