The Hays High Science Olympiad team recently participated in Regionals at Fort Hays on Feb. 10. The team placed fourth out of the 11 schools that were present in the competition. Medals were awarded to the top three spots in each event and those who got first in their event have the opportunity to go onto State. The coaches were science teachers Beth Schiel and Lynn Zimmerman.

Senior Trenton Flora and junior Trenton Potter – First, Experimental Design

Freshmen Hayley Aufdemberge and Sara Rohleder – Second, Dynamic Planet

Juniors Nikki Vuong and Sylina Zhang – Second, It’s About Time

Freshmen Hope Aufdemberge and Aufdemberge – Third, Wright Stuff

Sophomores Clara Lee and Sierra Eichman – Third, Disease Detectives

Vuong and Zhang – Third, Fossils

Vuong and Zhang – Third, Bungee Drop

Senior Sarah Rooney and Flora – Fourth, Protein Modeling

Rooney and Potter – Fourth, Geologic Mapping

Lee and Eichman – Fourth, Scrambler

Junior Scott Ring and Potter –Fourth, Technical Problem Solving

Junior Ben Morely and Ring –Fifth, Bridge Building

Lee and Eichman – Fifth, Cell Biology

Morely and Eichman – Fifth, Chemistry Lab

Morely and Rohleder – Seventh, Astronomy

Rooney and Flora –Seventh, Anatomy and Physiology

Flora and Zhang – Seventh, Entomology

Potter and Zhang – Seventh, Forensics

Lee and Rohleder – Seventh, Green Generation

Aufdemberge and Aufdemberge – Ninth, Write It Do It

Lee, one of the students who participated in Science Olympiad thought the team did alright.

“We probably could have done better,” Lee said. “But considering the amount of time we had, we did a good job.”

Schiel also said the competition went fairly well.

“I was pleasantly surprised with the results despite the lack of preparation by some people,” Schiel said. “We did better than expected.”

Zimmerman said the entire event was fun, but a lot of work.

“Mrs. Schiel and I took over the responsibility rather late,” Zimmerman said. “We also had a young team with only one senior returning from last year.

“Next year, we want to get the word out and build up the team. I encourage people to consider Science Olympiad. It’s more of a team effort than simply just individuals taking tests.”

16nvuong@usd489.com