Over this past weekend, the Lyons Township High School Science Olympiad team placed 3rd in state and won the spirit award. Their top three finish is remarkable not only because it marks the best finish in school history but also because as few as five years ago LTHS did not even have a Science Olympiad team. In the subsequent four years, the program has grown in numbers and success. Currently, more than 50 students participate in the club with a 15-person varsity squad that has advanced to the state tournament in each of its four years.
This year, the Olympians set out to ensure a winning season, specifically to win over Hinsdale and the Illinois Math and Science Academy (IMSA) and have a shot at nationals, which has been dominated by New Trier and Stevenson for at least the past 10 years. LT beat Hinsdale at the season’s second invitational, beat IMSA at their regional tournament, and finished one spot below a trip to nationals, while beating both Hinsdale (4th ) and IMSA (6th) again. Nearly all teams that finish in the top ten at state have programs that begin as early as 6th grade - except LT. One of LT’s biggest challenges is to engage team members as young as freshmen in order to have experienced seniors. Freshmen have a place on the LT team and often do very well. The team’s last goal was to have at least 10 freshmen on the squad, but the team fell just shy of that goal.
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Science Olympiad is a particularly challenging academic event as only four out of 23 events directly correlate to an LT class. This means 19 events (i.e. entomology, rocks and minerals, technical writing and material science) are essentially new courses for coaches to teach (and learn themselves) and 2-4 extra courses for students. Students benefit from this team by having a much more direct experience with a topic they may want to pursue in college. In fact, three students have decided to major in material science and another major in biomechanical engineering explicitly due to their experience in Science Olympiad. Many students start an event from scratch and develop skills and knowledge that they will retain for a lifetime.
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Below are the medal winners from state:
1st place - Rocks & Minerals
Jack McDermott (Sr) - Western Springs
Madeline Bernstein (Jr) - LaGrange
1st place - It's About Time
Matt Nutley (Jr) - Brookfield
Jimmy Dudley (Sr) - LaGrange
2nd place - Write It Do It
Lauren Remijas (Jr) - Western Springs
Chris Scotty (Jr) - LaGrange
3rd place - Experimental Design
Julia Kiely (So) - Western Springs
Thomas Kiely (Sr) - Western Springs
Jessica Zeisloft (12) - LaGrange
3rd place - Chem Lab
Thomas Kiely (Sr) - Western Springs
Madeline Bernstein (Jr) - LaGrange
3rd place - Bungee Drop
Adam Hemauer (So) - Western Springs
Tom Derrah (Jr) - Western Springs
3rd place - Mag Lev
Vince Pittacora (Jr) - Western Springs
Ben Miller (Sr) - Indian Head Park
Jimmy Dudley (Sr) - LaGrange
4th place - Astronomy
John Scott (Sr) - LaGrange
Tom Derrah (Jr) - Western Springs
4th place - Geologic Mapping
Ben Reardon (Sr) - LaGrange Park
John Scott (Sr) - LaGrange
5th place - Material Science
Julia Kiely (So) - Western Springs
Thomas Kiely (Sr) - Western Springs
