On Saturday, Jan. 8, the Shady Side Academy Middle School Science Olympiad team placed third out of 68 teams in Division B (grades 6-9) at the virtual Westlake Invitational.

The following students received awards in their events:

• Alex Bi and Shaurya Gulati: 2^nd place for Anatomy
• Ethan Chen and Shaurya Gulati: 2^nd place for Crime Busters
• Sophia Gombos and Evan Xiang: 2^nd place for Meteorology
• Chloe Wang: 4^th place for Botany
• Jeffrey Brunner, Alex Bi: 4^th place for Bridges
• Ethan Hou, Evan Xiang: 5^th place for Dynamic Planet
• Neyla Hinedi: 5^th place for Mission Possible
• Claudia Iannetti and Hanna Singhi: 5^th place for Rocks and Minerals
• Hanna Singhi, Evan Xiang: 5^th place for Storm the Castle
• Anna Litster and Hanna Singhi: 5^th place for Write It Do It
• Evey Fuhrman: 6^th place for Botany
• Jeffrey Brunner and Ellie Laman: 6^th place for Mousetrap Vehicle
• Sophia Gombos, Evan Xiang: 8^th place for Electric Wright Stuff
• Ethan Hou, Hanna Singhi and Evan Xiang: 8^th place for Experimental Design
• Ethan Chen and Shaurya Gulati: 8^th place for Food Science

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 the team and their coaches, Middle School science teachers Bonnie Maxwell, Matt Brunner and Paul Waked, as well as Chris Erler.