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Local high schools send their best and brightest to regional science bowl at JPL

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Teams from four area high schools were among 24 schools that competed in the U.S. Department of Energy National Science Bowl last Saturday at Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It was the 25th year JPL hosted the science bowl.

Clark Magnet, Hoover, La Crescenta and La Cañada high schools took part. While none of them made it out of the initial round-robin portion of the competition, Crescenta Valley High won the Best Sportsmanship Award for the second consecutive year.

In the end, Troy High School took first place, while University High School of Irvine came in second and Arcadia High school won third place.

The National Science Bowl is designed to inspire students to pursue careers in science or math and in its 26-year history, more than 250,000 students have participated. Troy moves on to represent Southern California on the national level during the finals from April 27 to May 1 in Washington, D.C.

Competition is in a fast-paced, game-show format, where teams of students buzz in with answers to score points based on questions at the college-freshman level. No calculators or notes are allowed, and questions cover various topics in Earth and space sciences, including astronomy, biology, chemistry, physics and math.

Some trivia students needed to know included which star can’t be observed from Sydney, Australia; the structure of a kidney; the properties of entropy; the components of nuclear reactors; and the energy production of a star.

Several students said the speed of the rounds was one of the biggest challenges.

“We did very well in the first round,” said Lyron Co Ting Keh, a sophomore and captain of the Crescenta Valley team, which was eventually eliminated in the round-robin portion of the competition. “You have to think quickly on your feet.”

The team spent several weeks preparing and picked up the practice pace on the days leading up to the regional bowl by taking mock quizzes on the Department of Energy’s website.

“We now know better in how to prep,” he added.

Hoover High School’s team had a different approach to preparing for the bowl.

“We just come for a good time,” said Anton Belosludtsev,” a junior and team captain. “We come here for the experience.”

Members of Hoover’s five-person team said they mainly focused on physics and chemistry questions.

“There’s a lot of good teams here,” Belosludtsev said. “It’s definitely good to be specialized.”

La Cañada had several seniors on the its team, and team member Ravi Dashputre thought they were well prepared. It was his first time participating.

“It’s enlightening to see how people are trying really hard to be a part of it,” he said.

Daniel Oh, president of the school’s science club, had advice for incoming freshmen that will carry on the proverbial science torch next year — be self-assured and prioritize.

“Be confident in your answers,” he said. “If you have the answer, buzz right away.”

It was Clark Magnet’s second year participating, and team members emphasized they want to continue building the tradition of being represented at the bowl.

“Definitely, be sure of yourself,” said Norik Margaryan, a junior and team captain. “We did better this year. We’re inspired by how good the teams are. This is good for our school.”

Margaryan also recommended to start preparing early. His team spent a lot of time studying biology and chemistry.

“You have to be ready to answer fast,” added teammate Dalia Saklaway. “We’re proud to represent Clark.”

Sanderson is a contributor to Times Community News.

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