Best-ever showing sending three teams to state Science Olympiad

Trevor Sears, left, and Shane Swindell of North Lenoir High School compete in the Machines event during the Region X Science Olympiad at Lenoir Community College. The team earned one of North Lenoir’s nine top-five finishes that pushed the Hawks to fifth place overall in the tournament. LCPS’s middle and high schools picked up 37 medals and three first-place finishes that qualified teams from South Lenoir High, Woodington Middle and Rochelle Middle for the state Science Olympiad tournament next month in Raleigh. Submitted photo.

Teams from three schools will carry the LCPS banner into state Science Olympiad competition next month after district schools posted a best-ever performance in recent regional games.

At the Region X Science Olympiad hosted Feb. 15 by Lenoir Community College, 33 student teams from six of the district’s schools earned top five finishes, North Lenoir High School finished fifth overall in the high school division, Lenoir County Early College High School won the Spirit Award for high schools and Woodington Middle School won the Spirit Award for middle schools.

First-place awards in varsity competition – and tickets to N.C. Science Olympiad competition April 24-25 in Raleigh – went to Dawson Tyndall and Ryan Williams of South Lenoir High, Isaiah Howard and Tanner Jones of Woodington Middle and Marwan Albaadani and Jameon Estep of Rochelle Middle. Maddy White and Jenna Van of Contentnea-Savannah's earned a first-place finish as members of Contentnea-Savannah K-8’s junior varsity team.

Teams qualify for state competition by finishing first or second in regional contests. The Region X games, hosted by LCC for the past 20 years, drew student scientists and engineers from 40 public and private schools in southeastern North Carolina.

LCPS’s first-place winners were recognized by Superintendent Brent Williams and the Lenoir County Board of Education at its meeting Monday night.

“We are very proud of the 37 medals awarded to our students and schools and are most excited to be sending three teams to the state tournament,” Dr. Amelia McLeod, the district’s director of middle school education and organizer of its Science Olympiad competition, said. “Parents and our friends in the community should join me in celebrating LCPS on the journey of supporting rigorous science opportunities and growing support for strong participation in these outstanding extracurricular activities.”

February was a big month for science throughout Lenoir County Public Schools. Eight middle and high schools competed in the Region X games and all nine elementary schools sent teams to the LCPS Elementary Science Olympiad held Feb. 17.

Science Olympiad tournaments are rigorous academic interscholastic competitions that consist of a series of different hands-on, interactive, challenging and inquiry-based events that test knowledge in the various disciplines of biology, earth science, environmental science, chemistry, physics, engineering and technology.

North Lenoir’s team, coached by Dr. Thomas Schwartz, piled up nine top-five finishes on its way to an overall fifth-place award. 

Top-five finishers by school and event were:

North Lenoir High – Meredith Respess and Elizabeth Espino, second, Geologic Mapping; Meredith Respess, third, Code Busting; Sara Jones and Tedavion Jenkins, third, Dynamic Planet; Nadjia Massamba and Mackenzie Williams, third, Forensics; Shane Swindell and Trevor Sears, fourth, Machines; Anna Rouse and Mackenzie Williams, fourth, Chemistry Lab; Elizabeth Espino and Anna Hull, fifth, Designer Genes; Bryant Deluna and Anna Hull, fifth, Circuit Lab; and Jaiden Moody, Kener Martines and Noura Zayyad, fifth, Gravity Vehicle.

South Lenoir High – Dawson Tyndall and Ryan Williams, first, Fossils; Ryan Williams and Ian Ireland, second, Chemistry Lab; Ian Ireland and Turner White, second, Experimental Design; Devin Likar and Ryan Williams, third, Anatomy and Physiology; Briley Taylor and Draw Hedrick, third, Geomapping; and Ian Ireland and Drew Hedrick, fifth, Protein Modeling.

Early College High School – Shatera Leary and Haley Jones, third, Write it, Do It; DJ Wiggins and Anna Cunningham, fifth, Ornithology; Cintja Cordova, fifth, Boomilever.

Woodington Middle – Isaiah Howard and Tanner Jones, first, Boomilever; Jamison Sutton and Makenzie Herring, second, Mousetrap Vehicle; Adi Patel and Michael Mozingo, third, Ping Pong Parachute; Adi Patel and Michael Mozingo, third, Write It, Do It; Adi Patel and Michael Mozingo, fourth, Machines; and Ava Howard and Tanner Jones, fourth, Meteorology.

Rochelle Middle – Marwan Albaadani and Jameon Estep, first, Circuit Lab; and Marwan Albaadani and Jameon Estep, fourth, Crime Busters.

Contentnea-Savannah K-8 (varsity): Eagan Ballard and Lesley Wiggins, fourth, Disease Detectives; Eagan Ballard and Leslie Wiggins, fourth, Road Scholar; and Laila Kilpatrick and Abraham Garcia, fourth, Water Quality.

Contentnea-Savannah K-8 (junior varsity): Maddy White and Jenna Van, first, Anatomy and Physiology; Maddy White and Jenna Van, second, Water Quality; and Sara Lococo and Mary Rose Beck, second, Heredity.