New Trier Science Olympiad wins 2024 State Tournament
The New Trier Science Olympiad team won first place at the Illinois Science Olympiad State Tournament on April 20 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, clinching the title of State Champions for the first time since 2018. With this achievement, the team qualified for the National Tournament at Michigan State University on May 25.
Team members on Varsity were:
• Seniors — Andrew Xia*, Alivia Gao*, Pranshu Rao, Tiana Wu, Sumi Pandiri
• Juniors — Malachi Noel*, Kevin Huang, Varun Murali, Kaci Morris, Stephen Zhao
• Sophomores — Brian Ren, Elan Hao, Vivian Chen, Justin Lu
• Freshman — Kate Kang
*team co-heads
Alternates were:
• Seniors — Marie Allgaier, Will Welch
• Juniors — Nicholas Circolone, Jack Chiang, David Organ
• Sophomore — Ary Varshney
• Freshmen — Sofia Yang, Albert Zhu, Alexander Roy, Pratyay Rao
Medals awarded to seniors:
• Andrew Xia — 3rd in Detector. 1st in Forensics, 3rd in Wind Power
• Pranshu Rao — 3rd in Detector, 1st in Flight, 1st in Robot Tour
• Tiana Wu — 2nd in Experimental Design, 1st in Scrambler, 1st in Tower
• Sumi Pandiri — 2nd in Experimental Design
Medals awarded to juniors:
• Malachi Noel: 1st in Astronomy, 1st in Dynamic Planet, 1st in Geologic Mapping, 1st in Robot Tour
• Kevin Huang: 1st in Flight, 2nd in Optics, 1st in Robot Tour
• Varun Murali: 1st in Astronomy, 1st in Codebusters, 3rd in Wind Power
• Kaci Morris: 2nd in Forestry, 2nd in Fossils, 1st in Geologic Mapping
• Stephen Zhao: 2nd in Forestry, 1st in Scrambler, 1st in Tower
• Nicholas Circolone: 3rd in Agricultural Science
Medals awarded to sophomores:
• Brian Ren: 1st in Dynamic Planet, 2nd in Fossils
• Elan Hao: 1st in Codebusters, 2nd in Experimental Design, 2nd in Optics
• Vivian Chen: 1st in Anatomy and Physiology, 1st in Codebusters, 1st in Forensics
• Justin Lu: 1st in Anatomy and Physiology, 3rd in Disease Detectives
Medals awarded to freshmen:
• Kate Kang: 3rd in Disease Detectives
• Sofia Yang: 3rd in Agricultural Science
New Trier Science Olympiad Coaches:
Alex Howe, Antony Harper, Harold Slav, Kiim Dwan, Nikki Whittern, Tony Asghari
At the Regional tournament held at Oakton College on March 9, New Trier won first place in the Varsity category and first and second place in the Junior Varsity category. Out of 23 events, New Trier won 18 first place medals, four second place medals, and one third place medal in the Varsity category. In the JV category, New Trier won 21 first place medals, 17 second place medals, one third place medal, and two fourth place medals.
Science Olympiad travels to out-of-state competitions about four times per year, two of which are for the State and National tournaments. The New Trier Educational Foundation's James Marran Grants program supports the team with funds to offset the cost of travel, providing an equitable and rigorous experience for all students who wish to participate. For more information about the New Trier Educational Foundation, call the office at (847) 784-2346 or visit newtrierconnect.org.
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