Moses Lake students return from science contest

MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake’s middle and high school students performed strongly at a state Science Olympiad competition Saturday.

Students at Moses Lake High School and Frontier Middle School competed against other top regional performers, at Clark Community College in Vancouver, Wash.

“Frontier’s Science Olympiad team had a great weekend at state, earning fifth and 11th places,” said coach Jay Loutherback Monday. “The Warrior and Blue teams earned 31 medals and ribbons in 13 events. Frontier improved their skills and devices since their regional competition.”

Moses Lake High School coach Liane Perkins said the high school teams placed 12th and 18th overall.

Judges, volunteers and coaches from all the teams selected the high school Gold Team for a Spirit Award.

Perkins said the teams didn’t do as well as normal, but they worked hard.

“We have a really young (group),” Perkins said. “We only had two returning seniors this year.”

Perkins said a large group of freshmen competed this year after performing well as middle school students.

She anticipated the teams would only improve in the future.

Each event of competition focuses on an academic area, such as ecology, and a more specific area within the subject.

“They have to know absolutely everything,” Perkins said.

Award winners for Frontier Middle School are:

Jennifer Dirks and Carrisa Johnson, fourth place for Amphibians and Reptiles; Gabe VanWinkle and Michelle Flores, fifth place for Bio-Process Lab; Nolan Knapp and Allison Banda, fourth place for Elevated Bridges.

Sarah Champion, Natalia Tolley and Allysa Luiten, second place for Experimental Design; Rigel Keller, Orion Keller, Jennifer Dirks, and Amanda Sursely, fifth place for Pentathalon; Gabe VanWinkle and Orion Keller, first place for Physical Science Lab.

Leslie Jorgensen and Sydnee Martinez, second place for Physical Science Lab; Allison Banda and Amanda Sursely, fourth place for Reach for the Stars; Carrisa Johnson and Natalia Tolley, third place for Road Scholar.

Vanessa Montano and Miller White, second place for Science Crime Busters; Keiley Garcia and Michelle Flores, fifth place for Wright Stuff; Robby Strophy, Katelyn Stroud and Amber Garrett, third place for Geocaching; Zack Fried Bauer, Parker Hill and Brittany Peterson, third place for Horizontal Bottle Rockets.

Robby Strophy, Katelyn Stroud and Amber Garrett, fourth place for Horizontal Bottle Rockets.

”Thanks to all of you who participated, the parents who supported their kids and Science Olympiad throughout the season,” Loutherback said.

Award winners from Moses Lake High School are:

Sasha Cervantes and Ashley Monesmith, first place for Health Science; Caleb Hochstatter and Adriana Carbon, first place for Junkyard Challenge; Annalise Odegaard and Mahina de Lottinville 2nd place for Environmental Chemistry.

David Steele and Alex Scott, fourth place for Fossils; Thadd Linville and Maria Rando, second place for Junkyard Challenge.