Irvington Science Olympiad’s Team White and Team Azure prevailed at the Wicklund (NorCal) Science Olympiad Invitational Tournament at Mountain House High School, triumphantly ranking second and third overall on Feb. 4 among 18 other teams of 12 high schools. Considered a prerequisite and accurate prediction of the Science Olympiad Regional Competition in March, February 2017’s Invitationals proved a victorious turn for Irvington since they were considered well-prepared.

From “Anatomy & Physiology” to “Robot Arm,” Irvington’s Science Olympiad teams competed in 23 different “test and build” events across the broad fields of science. The team’s impressive performance resulted from hours of teamwork and studying.

“You get together and study as a group, which is usually three people,” Team White competitor, junior Trevina Tan said, “but during the actual event there are only two competitors per team for each event.”

To prepare, members of Science Olympiad met since September to study for test events and create required components for build events. Each member competed in around three to four events ranging from chemistry labs to building robots. Most of the events also included a written test.

“In ‘Robot Arm’ students built a robot on a square base,” Team White competitor, freshman Anoushka Sen said, “that would flip stacks of pennies and place them inside an archery target.”

Team White ranked first overall in “Optics” and “Write It Do It”, while Team Azure ranked first overall in “Dynamic Planet”, “Ecology”, “Helicopters”, and “Remote Sensing.”

“I’ve been doing an event similar to Ecology for the last three years,” Team Azure competitor, freshman Vidushee Mishra said, “so I’m pretty familiar with the content.”

The 2017 Science Olympiad Invitationals was a dynamic 7-hour event that explored and celebrated the different sciences, and served as a solid confidence-booster for Irvington prior to the Regional Tournament in March, which will see Irvington Science Olympiad’s Team White, Team Azure, and Team Blue compete.