BHS Science Olympiad Sets Regional Team Scoring Record, Earns Runner-Up Trophy
FINAL ADJUSTMENTS — Lacota Brown (left) and Madison Andrews are shown making final adjustments to their plane on their way to earning third place in Wright Stuff. The duo also took second place in the Bridges event. —photo by Steve Duerst
MENOMONIE – Boyceville’s High School Science Olympiad team finished as the Science Olympiad West Regional Runner-Up team on Saturday, earning medals in 22 events and scoring a team record low 39 points, breaking the previous team record of 40 points set in 2019. A record 11 regional championship gold medals were earned by the team, featuring Parker Coombs and Caden Wold in both Bridges and Robo Cross, Becca Wyss and Coombs in Detector Building, Libby Bygd, Ella Holden, and Ali Ruhnke in Experimental Design, Shiloh Wheeldon and Wyss in Forensics, Peter Wheeldon and Wold in both Gravity Vehicle and Ping Pong Parachute, Bygd and Ruhnke in Horticulture, Coombs and Zach Kersten in Trajectory, Luke Becker and Becca Wyss in WIFI Lab, and Kersten and Wyss in Wright Stuff.
Regional runner-up silver medals were earned by Kylie Luedtke and Kaci Fisher in Cell Biology, Becker
THE ASTRONOMY event allows competitors to create a study guide about various objects in the night sky. They take a test that asks questions on those objects and the physics of gravity, light and orbital mechanics. Pictured above are Kylie Luedtke (left) and Luke Becker who finished third in Astronomy. —photo by Steve Duerst
and Shiloh Wheeldon in Dynamic Planet, Shiloh Wheeldon and Elliona Steves in Green Generation, Peter Wheeldon and Becker in Its About Time, Sydney Garbe and Luedtke in Ornithology, Holden and Becker in Virology, Abigail Bauer and Mackenzie Nelson in WIFI Lab (JV), and Madison Andrews and Lacota Brown in both Bridges (JV) and Gravity Vehicle (JV).
Bronze medals were earned by Shiloh Wheeldon and Holden in Anatomy & Physiology, Becker and Luedtke in Astronomy, Peter Wheeldon, Wyss, and Kersten in Codebusters, Staves and Shiloh Wheeldon in Disease Detectives, and Andrews and Brown in Wright Stuff (JV).
Fourth place medals were earned by Peter Wheeldon and Kersten in Geocaching and Andrews and Brown in Ping Pong Parachute (JV).
FOR THE EVENT, Robo Cross, students have to build and use a remote-controlled robot that can move pennies, lego pieces, tennis balls and milk jugs. Parker Coombs (left) and Caden Wold won first place in Robo Cross and also won the Bridges event. —photo by Steve Duerst
“Our students have worked so hard to transfer from the Satellite format to the In-Person tournament format and the hard work is definitely paying off” said Boyceville Head Coach Andy Hamm. “To score only 39 points at a regional tournament and win 11 regional championships is an amazing accomplishment and our students are really excited to see what happens at the state tournament. We have never been this close to Menomonie at the regional tournament at the high school level and it is a testament to the hard work of our students to keep trying to improve and represent Boyceville in a positive way.”
Final Team Results –
WI West Regional Tournament –
HS Division –
Varsity Teams Only (Div C)
Rank School Score
1 Menomonie 36
2 Boyceville 39
3 Hudson 79
IN WIFI Lab students have to build a radio antenna and complete a test using a study guide they created for this subject. Above, Luke Becker (left) and Becca Wyss are shown earning first place in the event. —photo by Steve Duerst
4 Baldwin-Woodville 85
5 New Richmond 110
6 Shell Lake 125
7 Elmwood 152
8 Elk Mound 213
9 Bloomer 246
10 Eleva Strum 251
11 St. Croix Central 271
12 Cadott 300
13 Chetek-Weyerhaeuser 308
14 Chippewa Falls 308
