The Goff Science Olympiad Team placed 4th at the New York State finals competition in Syracuse on Saturday. Only 39 teams qualified for the state finals out of 242 middle school teams from across New York State.
Goff, the Capital District champions, earned medals in 19 out of the 26 events that they competed in. Medals were given to the top 10 finishers. Goff earned gold medals as state champions in the Duct Tape Challenge, Silver medals in five events and Bronze medals in two events.
Science Olympiad tests students in a variety of events on STEM topics such as astronomy, biology, chemistry, engineering and mathematics.
“The competition with the top 10 teams in New York, particularly the top five, is extremely difficult,” said Donnamarie Vlieg, coach of the Goff Science Olympiad team. “We were fighting illness all week and had some bad breaks early in the day but I am so proud of my team. They hung in there, battled through the rough spots, and ended up on top! They did their best and that’s all I can ask of them.”
Congratulations to the students and coaches!
Ashish Roddam and Hubert Chang won gold medals in the Duct Tape Challenge event.
State Champions
Duct Tape Challenge – Hubert Chang and Ashish Roddam
Silver Medalists
Elastic Launch Glider – Shashwat Panigrahi and Alaina Marino
Meteorology – Ethan Trautman and Gavin Trautman
Road Scholar – Teddy Howard and Zach Booth
Parasitology – Anika Galikewicz and Morgan McHugh
Science Tech Bowl – Anna Hallock, Morgan McHugh, Ashish Roddam
Bronze Medalists
Disease Detective – Ethan Trautman and Harini Conji
Dynamic Planet – Teddy Howard and Harini Conji
4th place:
Fossils – Jack Reilly and Ria Hegde
Heredity – Maria Rybakov and Gavin Trautman
Potions and Poisons – Jack Reilly and Ada Wu
Rollercoaster – Austin Ernst and Teddy Howard
6th place:
Density Lab – Maria Rybakov and Shashwat Panigrahi
Solar System – Gavin Trautman and Jack Reilly
Thermodynamics – Akshat Arinav and Shashwat Panigrahi
7th place:
Crime Busters – Ethan Trautman and Jack Reilly
Experimental Design – Austin Ernst, Tori Patrissy, Maria Rybakov
8th place:
Anatomy and Physiology – Ethan Trautman and Austin Ernst
Water Quality – Harini Conji and Tori Patrissy
