Two O.C. Schools Ace the Science Olympiad Tests

Two Orange County schools dazzled judges at this year’s national Science Olympiad in Chicago on Saturday, grabbing first and second prizes in the prestigious competition.

After winning the high school division title four years ago, Troy High School from Fullerton repeated the achievement this year. And the 14-student team from El Rancho Middle School in Anaheim Hills--third last year--took second prize in the middle-school division in the two-day competition, school officials said.

Dan Jundanian, Troy’s science department chairman and a team coach, attributed the victory to consistently high showings in each category of competition--subjects ranging from biology to engineering.

“We had a pretty high performance level in all events,” Jundanian said.

“It’s a wonderful thing,” added El Rancho’s Olympiad coach, Richard Walker, who spent the last 12 months coaxing and grilling his team on scientific topics. “It culminates a year of hard work.”

In recent months, both schools stormed their way to victory in county and state championships to earn a chance to win the Olympiad national title. About 18,000 students from across North America compete in the contest, though only 55 schools this year reached the national finals.

The only thing that looked likely to stop El Rancho from getting to Chicago was the $15,000 in travel expenses for the team. But the Orange Unified School District and businesses from around the region dug into their pockets to help the team arrive on time, said Claudia Ross, the school’s assistant principal.

Now, Ross said, her students will be looking to emulate Troy’s achievement by winning first place in their division next time.

“Guess what?” she said with a giggle. “We’re going for the big one next year.”

At Saturday’s award ceremony, student achievers from Orange County were weighed under with medals, trophies and plaques. As well as helping their teams, many won individual prizes in categories ranging from “Don’t Bug Me,” which asked students to identify insects, to the “Naked Egg Drop,” which required competitors to build a contraption to keep an egg from breaking when dropped into it from a height.

“I think it’s really great,” said Clara Yoon, 14, who won first place in Earth, Sea and Sky, a round of questions about geology and hydrology. “We’re always getting better all the time. This year, I think we had the best team ever.”