The WT Science Olympiad team culminated their season with success this past Saturday, April 25, at the State tournament. Science Olympiad is a prestigious, nation-wide science competition with opportunities to compete at the regional, state, and national level. There are over 300 teams across all divisions in Pennsylvania, and only a small portion qualify for state-level competitions.

To qualify for this competitive tournament, the team attended the regional competition on March 27. Teams from across the Western Pennsylvania region came to compete for a chance to place in the top five and qualify for states. The team took second place at this competition, medaling in almost all of the twenty-three events. Below is the list of all Division C (9th-12th grade) regional medalists.

1st Place:

• Boomilever: Sami Alissa (11th) and Sarah Levin-Decanini (11th)
• Entomology: Alice Bussler (11th) and Claire Ding (10th)
• Disease Detectives: Claire Ding (10th) and Rachel Valenty (12th)

2nd Place:

• Experimental Design: Indie Pascal (11th), Lucy Bair (11th), and Sami Alissa (11th)
• Hovercraft: Adrian Lutchansky (9th) and Max Jakopin (11th)
• Machines: Jack Iyer (11th) and Adrian Lutchansky (9th)
• Dynamic Planet: Nora Jacobson (12th) and Sarah Levin-Decanini (11th)
• Electric Vehicle: Jack Iyer (11th) and Blake Langmead (9th)
• Rocks & Minerals: Alice Bussler (11th) and Rachel Valenty (12th)

3rd Place:

• Codebusters: Lucy Bair (11th), Indie Pascal (11th), and Alice Bussler (11th)
• Engineering CAD: Indie Pascal (11th) and Lucy Bair (11th)
• Designer Genes: Claire Ding (10th) and Aniya Padiath (10th)
• Astronomy: Aniya Padiath (10th) and Rachel Valenty (11th)

4th Place:

• Robot Tour: Indie Pascal (11th) and Lucy Bair (11th)

5th: Place

• Bungee Drop: Drew Leeper (9th) and Tyler Collinge (9th)
• Materials Science: Nora Jacobson (12th) and Max Jakopin (11th)

Science Olympiad is broken into two divisions: Division B (6-9th grade) and Division C (9-12th grade). Division B placed 1st at the regional competition, and the 9th graders who medaled (and their event partners) are listed below. 

1st Place:

• Codebusters: Teddy Glass (9th), Aria Andersen-Fuchs (MS), and Alice Tang (MS)
• Heredity: Yuehan Ren (9th) and Alice Tang (MS)
• Remote Sensing: Gabe Lipson (9th) and Ezra White (MS)
• Rocks and Minerals: Zilin Liu (9th) and Ezra White (MS)
• Meteorology: Andrew Palowski (9th) and Ben Harper (MS)
• Machines: Gabe Lipson (9th) and Teddy Glass (9th)

2nd Place:

• Dynamic Planet: Gabe Lipson (9th) and Ezra White (MS)
• Experimental Design: Andrew Pawlowski (9th), Zuri Smith (MS), and Erin Park (MS)
• Crime Busters: Zilin Liu (9th) and Hendrik Sukumvanich (MS)
• Metric Mastery: Zilin Liu (9th) and Yuehan Ren (9th)
• Scrambler: Gabe Lipson (9th) and Teddy Glass (9th)

4th Place: 

• Water Quality: Andrew Pawlowski (9th) and Hendrik Sukumvanich (MS)
• Write It, Do It: Yuehan Ren (9th) and Priya Iyer (MS)

At the State tournament last weekend, the Division B team placed 6th, which is the highest that any WT division has ever placed. The WT state medalists are listed below, including all Division C competitors as well as 9th grade Division B competitors and their event partners. 

Division C:

4th Place:

• Rocks and Minerals: Alice Bussler (11th) and Rachel Valenty (12th)

8th Place:

• Disease Detectives: Rachel Valenty (12th) and Claire Ding (10th)

9th Place:

• Boomilver: Sami Alissa (11th) and Jack Iyer (11th)

Division B (9th graders and their event partners only):

1st Place:

• Meteorology: Andrew Palowski (9th) and Ben Harper (MS)

3rd Place:

• Yuehan Ren (9th) and Alice Tang (MS)

4th Place:

• Dynamic Planet: Gabe Lipson (9th) and Ezra White (MS)

5th Place:

• Machines: Gabe Lipson (9th) and Teddy Glass (9th)

7th Place:

• Rocks and Minerals: Zilin Liu (9th) and Ezra White (MS)
• Scrambler: Gabe Lipson (9th) and Teddy Glass (9th)