On Wednesday, March 4, the Shady Side Academy Middle and Senior School Science Olympiad teams both placed first at the Regional Tournament at California University of Pennsylvania. The Middle School team finished in first place out of 17 teams in Division B (grades 6-9), while the Senior School team finished first out of 17 teams in Division C (grades 9-12).

The following Middle School students earned top eight finishes in their events, including an impressive 20 first-place finishes:

• Mike Biglan and Joe Krokosky: 1st for Mission Possible
• Mike Biglan and Joe Krokosky: 1st for Ping Pong Parachute
• Jeffrey Brunner and Smrithi Shyam: 1st for Boomilever
• Jeffrey Brunner and Ethan Hou: 1st for Mousetrap Vehicle
• Elaine Gombos and Sophia Gombos: 1st for Elastic Launch Glider
• Elaine Gombos and Ian Mocker: 1st for Machines
• Elaine Gombos, Sophia Gombos and Shaurya Gulati: 1st for Road Scholar
• Sophia Gombos: 1st for Meteorology
• Shaurya Gulati and Smrithi Shyam: 1st for Crime Busters
• Shaurya Gulati and Sophia Jho: 1st for Density Lab
• Ethan Hou and Hari Viswanathan: 1st for Reach for the Stars
• Ethan Hou and Rohan Shrishrimal: 1st for Water Quality
• Sophia Jho and Hari Viswanathan: 1st for Fossils
• Sophia Jho and Nichole Poltinnikov: 1st for Heredity
• Sophia Jho and Elliott Scheri: 1st for Ornithology
• Ian Mocker and Deven Nahata: 1st for Circuit Lab
• Ian Mocker, Elliott Scheri and Hari Viswanathan: 1st for Experimental Design
• Ian Mocker and Smrithi Shyam: 1st for Food Science
• Deven Nahata and Hari Viswanathan: 2nd for Game On
• Nichole Poltinnikov and Elliott Scheri: 1st for Anatomy
• Nichole Poltinnikov and Elliott Scheri: 1st for Disease Detectives
• Smrithi Shyam: 2nd for Dynamic Planet

The following Senior School teams earned top eight finishes in their events, including 17 first place finishes:

• Jack Hathaway and Prayag Vemulapalli: 2nd for Anatomy
• Jason Wu and Ishika Arora: 1st for Astronomy
• Jason Wu and Ishika Arora: 1st for Chemistry
• Charlie Brunner and Isabel Brunner: 1st for Boomilever
• Jason Vasko: 1st for Circuit Lab
• Andrew Liu and Stephanie Chen: 1st for Designer Genes
• Stephanie Chen and Jason Wu: 1st for Disease Detectives
• Nick Zana, Renee Long, and Jason Vasko: 1st for Experimental Design
• Ishika Arora and Stephanie Chen: 1st for Fossils
• Henry Fried and Andrew Liu: 3rd for Geological Mapping
• Jack Hathaway and Prayag Vemulapalli: 2nd for Ornithology
• Jack Hathaway and Prayag Vemulapalli: 1st for Ping Pong Parachute
• Ishika Arora and Jason Vasko: 1st for Sounds of Music
• Andrew Liu and Jason Vasko: 1st for Water Quality
• Stephanie Chen and Renee Long: 1st for Wright Stuff
• Henry Fried, Nick Zana, and Andrew Liu: 1st for Code Busters
• Parker Maivald and Nick Zana: 1st for Detector Building
• Parker Maivald and Andrew Liu: 1st for Forensics
• Charlie Brunner and Isabel Brunner: 4th for Gravity Vehicle
• Charlie Brunner and Jason Vasko: 1st for Machines
• Parker Maivald, Nick Zana, and Jack Hathaway: 2nd for Protein Modeling
• Isabel Brunner and Charlie Brunner: 1st for Write it Do it

Science Olympiad is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of K-12 science education, increasing male, female and minority interest in science, creating a technologically-literate workforce and providing recognition for outstanding achievement by both students and teachers.

Congratulations to both teams and their coaches, Middle School science teachers Bonnie Maxwell and John Matia and Senior School coaches Russel Grant, Dr. Joe Martens and Dr. Kelly VandenBosche! Good luck at the state tournament on Saturday, April 25!