2024 Recap

On March 16, 2024, Science Olympiad enthusiasts once again descended upon Bowling Green State University for the nation’s most exciting science competition. It was BGSU’s 9^th edition of the Northwestern Ohio Science Olympiad Regional featuring longtime competitors from Sylvania, Springfield, Shawnee, Ottawa Hills, Arlington, Paulding, Maumee Valley Country Day, St. Joseph, Start, and Van Buren, as well as new entrants from St. Ursula Academy, St. Francis de Sales, and Anthony Wayne.

Hundreds of dedicated competitors once again tested their knowledge and skills in physics, earth science, chemistry, engineering, and biology in various classrooms, labs, and gyms in several buildings across campus. This year featured a new venue for wheeled vehicle and trajectory events: the Lehnert Grand Ballroom in the Bowen-Thompson Student Union where one young participant could be overheard saying “Wow, this is college? I want to go to college.” For the rest of the day, the future college students and scientists of the world would do battle for the next several hours to determine who would reign supreme in the 2024 edition of the BGSU Science Olympiad.

Schools from the Sylvania district as usual excelled in this competition, taking the top 3 spots in Division B and the top 2 spots in Division C just as they did in 2023. For the 9^th year in a row, McCord Junior High and Northview High School took the spots in their respective divisions with each team medaling in all 23 events. For some of those nine titles, these squads experienced some close calls, including last season, but this time around they won with more comfortable margins while setting team records in the process.

In Division B, McCord achieved the lowest (best) score in the history of the BGSU regional in either division with a total of 39* points, including an incredible 16 of 23 first place finishes, also a record. Other Division B teams qualifying for the state competition included Timberstone, Arbor Hills, Springfield, and Van Buren. For Timberstone, their second-place finish was their best finish at BGSU. Arbor Hills and Springfield finished 3^rd and 4^th respectively, as they continue their long streaks as state qualifiers. Arbor Hills and McCord have qualified every year from BGSU since 2015. Van Buren made its return to the tournament and picked up where they left off with a 5^th place finish just edging out Ottawa Hills by one point for the last state qualifying spot.

In Division C, Northview tied its own record from 2022 with a point total of 47 points* including 10 first place finishes. Northview’s second squad-Team Black also had a strong showing with a 3^rd place finish overall. Sylvania Southview, Shawnee, and Springfield placed as the second, third, and fourth schools respectively, as all three teams have continued their long streaks as state qualifiers with Southview and Shawnee qualifying every year from BGSU. Oak Harbor placed 5^th overall qualifying for state for the 3^rd consecutive year, while Anthony Wayne took 6^th place impressively qualifying for state in their first year competing at regionals. Other first time entrants St. Francis and St. Ursula had some strong performances with each medaling in at least one event.

Ottawa Hills medaled in several events, but just missed out on the podium finishing in 7^th. Lincolnview continued their steady rise in the rankings with a strong 8^th place finish while Arlington, Tinora, and Maumee Valley Country Day had great performances with each medaling in multiple events.

Teams with strong traditions in Science Olympiad excelled as usual in this competition, but the new teams showed that they can compete at a high level winning several medals including gold. It typically does take some time to build a strong team, but we saw Anthony Wayne High School qualify for states in their first year and Van Buren Middle School qualify after a few years off. We hope this regional continues to grow to provide more opportunities for students to experience this exciting and rewarding competition.

BGSU Science Olympiad would like to thank our sponsors for their continued support: Cenovus Energy, Johnson & Johnson Vision, Northwest Ohio Center for Academic Excellence in STEM Education. Principle Business Enterprises, BGSU College of Arts and Sciences, BGSU Summer Academic Programs, and Arrow Dickerson-All State Insurance in Toledo. Thanks also to our dedicated supervisors, volunteers, and coaches. Thank you for all the support to make this event possible.

*The Wind Power event was not counted officially in the overall team scores for both divisions due to discrepancies in time allowed for the written test. These scores, however, were included in this analysis of unofficial records. The exclusion of the Wind Power event did not affect the overall team placings among state finalists.