Yankton teams take top honors at Science Olympiad at USD
Yankton Middle School received first place in the middle school division (Division B) for the 23rd consecutive year while Yankton High School made it 22 straight first place finishes in the high school division (Division C). Both teams from Yankton have been invited to the National Science Olympiad Tournament at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on May 21-22.
Coached by Rebecca Corlew, Elizabeth Dooley 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, finished second.
South Dakota schools participating in the 2010 Science Olympiad included (Division B): first place – Yankton Middle, second – Sacred Heart Middle, third – Mickelson Middle (Brookings), fourth – Vermillion Middle, fifth – Spearfish Middle, sixth – Elk Point-Jefferson Middle, seventh – Timber Lake Middle, eighth – Madison Middle, ninth – Deuel Middle and 10th – Gayville-Volin Middle. High School Division: first – Yankton, second – Great Plains Lutheran, third – Brookings, fourth – Spearfish, fifth – Todd County, sixth – Deuel, seventh – Gayville-Volin.
Hundreds of middle school and high school students from South Dakota competed in several science events during the competition, which was Saturday, March 27 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.
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.