Yankton Middle School received first place in the middle school division (Division B) for the 24th consecutive year while Yankton High School made it 23 straight first place finishes in the high school division (Division C). Both teams now have an opportunity to compete nationally in May at the 2011 National Science Olympiad Tournament at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Coached by Cheryl Schaeffer, Brooks Schild and Tom Merrill, Yankton Middle School was first in Division B while Sacred Heart Middle School (Yankton, S.D.), coached by Marcia Olnes and Rebecca Peterson, was runner-up. Yankton High, coached by Angie Hejl, Robert Medeck and Jama Mathison, was the top team in Division C as Great Plains Lutheran High School of Watertown, coached by Greg Diersen and Jeff Roloff, finished second.

Hundreds of middle school and high school students from across the state competed in several science events during the competition, which was Saturday, April 2 on the USD campus. All events for the Science Olympiad are determined at the national level. For the state tournament, faculty, staff, and students from USD organized and served as judges for the events.

South Dakota schools participating in the 2011 Science Olympiad included (Division B): first place – Yankton Middle, second – Sacred Heart Middle, third – Mickelson Middle (Brookings), fourth – Vermillion Middle, fifth – Spearfish Middle, sixth – Madison Middle, seventh – Gayville-Volin Middle, eighth – Deuel Middle. High School Division: first – Yankton High, second – Great Plains Lutheran, third – Brookings High, fourth – Spearfish High, fifth – Tri-Valley, sixth – Todd County, seventh – Mitchell High, eighth – Gayville-Volin High, ninth – Deuel High.

For more information about South Dakota Science Olympiad, please visit http://orgs.usd.edu/~sdscioly/ or contact Clark Bennett, state director, at Clark.Bennett@usd.edu or (605) 677-5248.

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