Ravenscroft's Science Olympiad teams competed at the NC Science Olympiad Raleigh Regional Tournament on Saturday, Feb. 1, held at Southeast Raleigh High School. The all-day event resulted in 12 medals and an overall sixth-place win in the event.

Part of the Upper School Science Club, the Science Olympiad teams (pictured at right) include 18 students on the varsity team and seven students on the junior varsity team. The competition, which pits students against teams from other schools, features 23 different events that require a range of knowledge and know-how — including laboratory skills, communication and logical planning skills, and building devices or machines. Students typically compete with one or two partners.

This year's team medalled in 12 events (nine varsity, three JV), including two first-place wins in the varsity field. The first-place finishers will advance to the state tournament April 25 at NC State.

The teams' sponsor, Upper School science teacher Kathryn Fromson, said, "It's worth noting that Lucy Hao '20 and Mark Li '20 won first place in Chem Lab last year, too, and competed at States. So they're returning champions! Our other first-place finishers, Michael Rutigliano '22 and Adrian Tong '21, built a functional guitar for their event. It sounds really good!

"In addition, nine students won a medal in an event that was new to them — including five members of the JV team," she said. "We're building a strong team for the future."

Here are the full results from the Feb. 1 tournament. Congratulations to everyone on the teams!

Varsity Results

• 1st place Chem Lab: Lucy Hao '20 and Mark Li '20
• 1st place Sounds of Music: Michael Rutigliano '22 and Adrian Tong '21
• 3rd place Ping Pong Parachute: Lauren Shaffer '20 and Claire Ziperski '20
• 4th place Anatomy & Physiology: Shriya Mandal '20 and Emma Norris '20
• 4th place Boomilever: Nick Fay '21 and Emmy Replogle '21
• 4th place Geologic Mapping: Caroline Rutigliano '20 and Michael Rutigliano '22
• 5th place Circuit Lab: Sean Shen '21 and Chris Xiao '20
• 5th place Dynamic Planet: Jacob Crater '20 and Grace Vande Berg '20
• 5th place Ornithology: Jacob Crater '20 and Grace Vande Berg '20

JV Results

• 3rd place Gravity Vehicle: Luci Jacobson '22 and Alexa Shaffer '22
• 3rd place Ping Pong Parachute: Claire Douglas '22 and Katie Loturco '22
• 3rd place Sounds of Music: Aydin Atasoy '22

Below, clockwise from top left: Mark Li '20 and Lucy Hao '20, representing Chem Lab; Jacob Crater '20 and Grace Vande Berg '20, showing off the binder they created for Ornithology; Alexa Shaffer '22, Luci Jacobson '22, Emmy Replogle '21 and Talia Granick '21, representing the JV and varsity teams for Gravity Vehicle; Aydin Atasoy '22, with the guitar he built for Sounds of Music.