Posted March 16, 2015Columbia High School’s Science Olympiad Team won the New York State tournament Saturday at LeMoyne College in Syracuse and will advance to the national tournament on May 15 and 16 at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Columbia avenged its runner-up finish from last year, knocking off 11-time state champion Fayetteville-Manlius High School of Central New York by seven points.
Columbia defeated 53 schools in 25 different events including biology, chemistry, earth science, physics, computers and engineering. Events range from paper and pencil tests, to laboratory activities and construction of devices.
Individual medals are given for the top 10 teams in each event, and these scores are combined to earn an overall team score. Columbia’s team medaled in 18 of the 25 events held on Saturday, and every member of the team won at least one individual medal. Additionally, team members Tim MacDonald, Peter Herrick and Parth Bhide’s gold medal performances qualified them for $14,000 in scholarships.
This is Columbia’s second consecutive trip to the national tournament. In 2014, Columbia finished 16th out of 60 schools and won the award for best new team.
