Venice High Wins Regional Science Bowl Title

In science, it is axiomatic that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

And Van Nuys High School’s science bowl team learned the lesson when archrival Venice High School bounced back from last year’s loss to win the regional competition of the National Science Bowl.

Despite predictions that Van Nuys would win the Los Angeles competition and have a chance to repeat as national champs, Venice on Saturday won handily, 122-88.

“It feels great,” Noah Bray-Ali exulted after his team’s victory in a competition that mixes science acumen, buzzer reflexes and a smidgen of luck.

“But really, 99% of the game is listening to the questions and getting to the buzzers first. We’re no smarter or better than Van Nuys.”

Cracking a smile, he added, “Last year we were pretty lame.”

But that was last year. This time around, Bray-Ali’s team goes to Washington on May 3 for the Energy Department’s National Science Bowl. There, it hopes to follow in Van Nuys’ footsteps.

The team also receives $1,000 worth of science equipment for the school.

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“If we do even half what Van Nuys did in Washington last year, we will have done really well,” coach Richard Erdman said.

The Van Nuys team went home with second-place honors. North Hollywood High came in third, and Milken Community High School in Bel-Air was fourth.

The competition required each of the 32 teams to be grounded in computer science, biology, physics, earth science, chemistry, astronomy, robotics, space travel and mathematics.