'The Amazing Race' eliminates Andie DeKroon and Jenna Sykes

The Amazing Race eliminated the "Birth Mother/Daughter" team of Andie DeKroon and Jenna Sykes during Sunday night's broadcast of the seventeenth edition's second episode.


Andie -- a 43-year-old stay-at-home mom from Atlanta, GA who had only recently reunited with her daughter, who she gave up for adoption at birth -- and Jenna, a 21-year-old University of Georgia student from Athens, GA, became the second team eliminated from the around-the-world competition.

"For me, I've gotten a piece, after 21 years, of just knowing this beautiful person I've brought into the world," Andie said.

"My whole life, I've wondered who my birth mother was, and it's just like a treasure to have it be Andie," Jenna added.

The Amazing Race's second seventeenth-season episode began with the Race's ten remaining teams leaving the course's first Pit Stop at Eastnor Castle, a castle in the English countryside.


Since they had been the first team to arrive at the Pit Stop, "Dating Couple" Jill Haney and Thomas Wolfard were the first team to depart at 11:55AM.  They were then followed closely behind by "Doctors/Friends" Nat Strand and Kat Chang at 12:00PM.

Upon opening their departure clues, the teams were instructed to fly more than 3,100 miles to Accra, a city in the West African country of Ghana, and then take a taxi to Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, where they would find their next clue.

"Ivy League A Cappella Singers" Connor Diemand-Yauman and Jonathan Schwartz were the third team to depart at 12:20PM, however they decided to wait and work with two all-female teams that were leaving the Pit Stop just behind them: "Home Shopping Hosts" Brook Roberts and Claire Champlin (who departed at 12:21PM) and "Beach Volleyball Partners" Katie Seamon and Rachel Johnston (12:22PM).

They were followed by "Father/Daughter" Gary Ervin and Mallory Ervin at 12:40PM, "Father/Son" Michael Wu and Kevin Wu at 12:41PM, "Newly Dating Couple" Chad Waltrip and Stephanie Smith at 12:50PM, Andie and Sykes at 1:35PM, and "Dating Couple" Nick DeCarlo and Vicki Casciola at 1:45PM.

However upon arriving at Heathrow Airport in London, the front-running teams learned they had raced to the airport for nothing since there was only one daily flight to Accra and it wouldn't leave until that evening -- resulting in all ten teams being on the same six-hour flight.


"We're all on the same flight.  Man, we had a freaking lead on them!" Thomas vented.

"That really sucks," Jill added.

Once they arrived in Accra, Brook and Claire were the first team to reach the memorial park and retrieve their next clue, which instructed the teams to make their way to Makola Market, a large outdoor market where they would find their next clue.

Nick and Vicki were the second team to arrive at the memorial and were followed by Chad and Stephanie, Katie and Rachel, Michael and Kevin, Jill and Thomas, Nat and Kat, Connor and Jonathan, Gary and Mallory, and Andie and Jenna.

Nick and Vicki were the first team to arrive at the market and retrieve the teams' next set of clues, which instructed one member of each team to complete a Roadblock task that would require "shady dealings."


However instead of dealing with corrupt negotiations, each team member would be selling sunglasses and have to sell enough to earn 15 Ghanan cedi, the equivalent of $10.  While there was no maximum price the racers could charge per pair of sunglasses, each pair would have to be sold for a minimum of 3 cedi.

Nick chose to do the Roadblock task for his team and was soon joined by Brook, Jill, Chad, Rachel, Michael, Kat, and Connor.

Jenna joined the other racers after her team arrived the market in ninth place, however they only arrived well after the other teams had already begun their sales.  Gary and Mallory -- the victims of a taxi breakdown which forced them to switch taxis -- then arrived at the market in last place and Mallory joined the sales effort.

All the racers appeared to attempt to sell their sunglasses for the minimum 3 cedi price, however even that seemed to prove difficult given the number of competing vendors and few locals who could afford to make the purchase.

Brook was the first racer to earn 15 cedi and complete the Roadblock task for her team.


"Give me a sales challenge, bring it on!" she said, noting selling consumer products is her regular job.

Michael was the next racer to complete the task and was followed by Connor, Chad, Rachel, Jenna, Mallory, Jill, Nick, and -- finally -- Kat.

"I don't know if I'm just not a very good salesperson or no one wants sunglasses," Kat lamented.

After completing the Roadblock, the teams received clues which instructed them to take a taxi to Peace Motor Spare Parts, a local motorcycle repair shop where they would find their next cluebox.

Upon reaching the repair shop, the teams learned it was time for them to complete one of two Detour tasks: "Tune In" or "Check Out."


"Tune In" required the teams to obtain a television antenna system from an electronics store and then install it in one of several marked homes located nearby.  Once the antenna was capable of tuning a local station in correctly, the homeowner would give the team their next clue.

"Check Out" required the teams to make their way to a woodworking shop.  Once there, they would have to select a painted coffin custom-made in the shape of a personal item or animal and then push it through the streets to a coffin showroom, where they would receive their next clue.

Brook and Claire were the first team to arrive at the Detour and chose "Tune In." They were then followed by Chad and Stephanie, Katie and Rachel, Michael and Kevin, Connor and Jonathan, Jill and Thomas, Nick and Vicki, Gary and Mallory, Nat and Kat, and Andie and Jenna.

While Katie and Rachel, Jill and Thomas, Nat and Kat, and Andie and Jenna chose "Check Out," the rest of the teams followed Brook and Claire's choice and opted for "Tune In."  However Connor and Jonathan later decided to switch to the coffin task after struggling to tune in the reception on their antenna. 

Brook and Claire were the first team to complete the Roadblock and receive the teams' next clue -- which instructed them to make their way to Kaneshie Market, the location of the Race's second Pit Stop.

They were followed by Katie and Rachel, Michael and Kevin, Chad and Stephanie, Jill and Thomas, Nick and Vicki, Connor and Jonathan, Gary and Mallory, Nat and Kat, and Andie and Jenna.


Brook and Claire maintained their first-place lead during the taxi drive to the crowded market and were the first team to find the Pit Stop mat and be checked-in by The Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan.  As the first team to arrive, they won a 10-day trip to Hawaii.

Katie and Rachel were the second team to arrive at the Pit Stop and were followed by Michael and Kevin, Chad and Stephanie, and Jill and Thomas.

However sixth place turned into a motor race when Nat and Kat's taxi driver decided to race through heavy traffic -- causing Connor and Jonathan's driver to follow his lead and drive close behind.

"These taxi drivers are nuts, [but] we're not complaining as long as we're not dying," Jonathan said as his driver closely avoided one head-on accident after another.  "Our taxi driver and the taxi driver ahead of us have just invented a third lane."

"I want my mom!" Connor added.  "I'm so proud that I haven't soiled myself."

"I think I might have," Jonathan replied.


Connor and Jonathan ended up arriving sixth with Nat and Kat just behind in seventh place. 

Nick and Vicki -- who had left the Roadblock in sixth place and been passed by the dueling taxis -- then arrived in eighth place and were followed by Gary and Mallory in ninth place, leaving Andie and Jenna as the last team to arrive at the Pit Stop.

"Andie and Jenna, you are the last team to arrive.  I'm sorry to tell you, you have been eliminated from the Race," Phil said.






About The Author: Steven Rogers