Graeme College pupil Russell Dixon took first prize for the region in the South African Junior Mathematics Olympiad.

Russell came through three gruelling rounds to ultimately be crowned the best in the Eastern Cape region. He beat off stiff competition from more than 2 000 other pupils in the region who wrote the exam. The regional prizegiving ceremony on Friday morning, where the top three juniors from round two were recognised was particularly special for the young mathematician, because it took place in front of his friends in the Graeme College hall.

Russell, 15, who lives on a farm outside Grahamstown with his parents, enjoys hunting and fishing in his spare time. He told Grocott's Mail, "I do not spend that much time on my maths. I'm lucky because it is a natural gift. I think I went over one or two question papers before the Mathematics Olympiad. The competition was really hard, especially the second round. I didn't think I'd got more than 40% - and writing alone at VG made it even more weird."