Science Olympians Repeat as State Champs, Again

In a close competition with historic favorite Waterville Senior High School (16 State Championships to their credit), the Waynflete Flyers Green team brought its A+ game to the tournament and slipped by Waterville to secure its third state championship in a row.  And in a display of great depth, the Waynflete White team finished third in the tournament, ahead of an impressive slate of competitors from across the state, hailing from Falmouth to Presque Isle.

This year’s competition was held at the University of Southern Maine on Saturday, March 21.  Teams spent a full day competing in 23 different science and engineering events.  For some events, students spent the past few weeks prior to the competition building very specific devices to accomplish difficult engineering tasks. Students built a balsa wood bridge that supported over twenty pounds of sand, even though the bridge itself weighed only twenty grams. The bridge was so light, if it were a letter, you could put a single stamp on it and send in the mail! Other students built an air-powered cannon to shoot ping balls a specified distance.  Still others built a rubber band powered plane that stayed aloft for over minute as it circled overhead.

In addition to hours and hours of designing, building, and trouble shooting for the engineering challenges, students also studied for events that would test their knowledge in a variety of subjects, some not typically covered in high school curricula. There were competitions on anatomy and physiology, cell biology, forensics, entomology, and fossils, to name just a few.  A complete list of events can be found in the 2015 Science Olympiad Tournament Brochure.

With two or three members of each team competing in each event, Waynflete students placed in the top three in an incredible eighteen out of the twenty-three events, taking home a grand total of 43 medals! Overall, our Green Team placed first in the state and our White Team placed third.  In the Middle School division, Waynflete’s team finished second.  The Green team was lead by seniors Al Ghorashi, Jacob Hagler, and Dana Peirce. The Upper School teams were coached by Wendy Curtis and Carol Titterton.  The Middle School team was coached by Wendy and Stephanie Dolan.

The team is now eligible to attend the National Science Olympiad and compete against the best schools from each state in the country. The national competition takes place in May at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, Nebraska.  More information about Science Olympiad and the national tournament can be found on the Science Olympiad website.

Congratulations to all on this hard earned victory!

Green Team (1st Place)

• Stephen Epstein ’15
• Ali Ghorashi ‘15
• Jacob Hagler ‘15
• Julianna Harwood ‘15
• Dana Peirce ‘15
• Chloe Williams ‘15
• Brandon Woo ‘15
• Esme Benson ‘16
• Arianna Giguerre ‘16
• Henry Johannen ‘16
• Peter Michalakes ‘16
• Christian Rowe ‘16
• Tim Clifford ‘17
• Willson Moore ‘17
• Emily Tabb ‘17

 White Team (3rd Place)

• Harriet Edwardsen ‘15
• Scott Ralston ‘15
• Laura Vary ‘15
• Victor Anghel ‘16
• James Bigbee ‘16
• Isabella Davis ‘16
• Ben Mallon ‘16
• Liam McNiff ‘16
• Nina Moore ‘16
• Meddy Smith ‘16
• Elisabeth Lualdi ‘17
• Sophia Mayone ‘17
• Jack Meahl ‘17
• Althea Sellers ‘17
• Luna Soley ‘18