New Trier Science Olympiad Team Wins 5th Place at Nationals

Information provied by New Trier Township High School District 203.

New Trier High School’s Science Olympiad team placed 5th in the nation this month, the highest national team placement in school history. Team members also won a number of individual medals, including the top prize in Protein Modeling.

The team made it to Nationals after winning a record-setting 11th consecutive state title this spring. The National Science Olympiad Tournament, held at the University of Central Florida on May 18-19, marked the culmination of a season that included seven invitational meets along with the regional and state meets.

New Trier sent 22 students to compete in a field of 60 of the nation’s best Science Olympiad teams. Seniors Elaine Shen and Christina Tsai and junior Hayley Bounds led the team achievements with their first place medal in Protein Modeling. If they choose to, they each could attend the University of Central Florida with a $30,000 scholarship.

Medal winners

• 1st Place- Protein Modeling (Elaine Shen, Christina Tsai, and Hayley Bounds)
• 3rd Place- Chemistry Lab Christina Tsai & Jung Oh)
• 3rd Place- Thermodynamics (Christina Tsai & Jung Oh)
• 3rd Place- MagLev (Byron Hopps & Sriram Boppana)
• 4th Place- Astronomy (Arth(ur Tsang & Alex Tamkin)
• 4th Place- Helicopters (Amanda Newmark & Adam Cohen)
• 5th Place- Gravity Vehicle (Meng Feng & Sean Ye)
• 6th Place- Sounds of Music (Eleanor Hyun & Chloe Director)
• 6th Place- Robotic Arm (Adam Cohen & Sean Ye)

Otherwinners

• 5th - Trial event Elastic Glider (Michael Knippen & Jonathan Wang)
• 7th -  Disease Detectives (Adam Cohen & Amanda Newmark)
• 7th-  Forestry (Eleanor Hyun & Hayley Bounds)
• 7th - Write It Do It (Andy Feis & Alex Tamkin)
• 8th-  Fermi Questions (Ben Feis & Jung Oh)
• 8th -  Forensics (Michael Salceda & Chloe Director)
• 9th - Rocks & Minerals (Arthur Tsang & Sean Ye)
• 9th -  Dynamic Planet (Chloe Director & Sean Ye)
• 10th - Anatomy & Physiology (Elaine Shen & Hayley Bounds)
• 10th - Towers (Ben Feis & Andy Feis)
• 13th- Water Quality (Hayley Bounds & Chloe Director)
• 19th – Microbe Mission (Eleanor Hyun & Elaine Shen)
• 22nd - Optics (Jung Oh & Arthur Tsang)
• 24th - Experimental Design (Andy Feis, Ben Feis, Alex Tamkin)

The team members who competed were:  Hayley Bounds, Adam Cohen, Chloe Director, Andy Feis, Ben Feis, Meng Feng, Eleanor Hyun, Amanda Newmark, Jung Oh, Michael Salceda, Elaine Shen, Alex Tamkin, Christina Tsai, Arthur Tsang and Sean Ye.

The alternates who competed in two trial events were:  Sriram Boppana, Byron Hopps, Michael Knippen, and Jonathan Wang.

The freshman team member who accompanied the upperclassmen to nationals was Samantha Yang.

The dedicated coaches of the 2011-2012 New Trier Science Olympiad team were: Jan Leonhardt, Alex Howe, Tony Harper, Bruce Credo and David Jabon.