Science Olympians take home trophies; White Pines places second and GHHS places sixth in national tournament
Mon, Jun 2, 2008 
to del.icio.us
BY BETH HEINEN BELL
bbell@grandhaventribune.com
Grand Haven's Science Olympians traveled to Washington, D.C., this weekend — and once again returned with medals around their necks.
Click to enlarge
At Saturday's national Science Olympiad tournament at The George Washington University, White Pines Middle School placed second in the middle school division — edged out of first place by just one point.
Grand Haven High School placed sixth in the high school division, medaling in 10 of the 23 events.
"When we saw that one point, it was kind of like, 'Oh no, not again,'" said White Pines head coach Robby Bird, recalling the 2006 tournament where the White Pines team tied for first place, but had to settle for second after a tie-breaker. "But I didn't see a bit of disappointment. It didn't bring (the White Pines students) down at all. Second is such an accomplishment. They really felt good about what their team did."
The White Pines students' top goal at the tournament was to beat last year's team score of 280, Bird said. In a competition where the lowest score wins, the team more than accomplished this goal, setting a new best score of 250 points on Saturday. They also earned medals in eight of the 23 events, including four first-place finishes.
Click to enlarge
GHHS head coach Mike Reed acknowledged his team members were disappointed about how some events had gone, but noted the close scores among the high school teams. Only seven points separated the fourth-, fifth- and sixth-place teams.
"A lot of things went really well for us — and I think, overall, they're OK with it," Reed said of his students. "We always shoot for the top on this — and if just one or two little things had gone a different way, it might have been a different result. But I can't complain — all around, we're in the top 10 in the nation and that's pretty good."
With 23 events in each division, Saturday was a busy day for the Grand Haven competitors, who hit the road last Wednesday to get to the weekend competition in Washington.
In the middle school division, White Pines encountered some mishaps with its Scrambler device, but many of the other events "went very, very well," Bird said. The team's tower worked with maximum efficiency and its robot performed better than it had at either the regional or state tournaments.
"Our team really did fabulous," Bird said. "The kids came out of nearly all of the events feeling really confident. They were really excited about everything."
Click to enlarge
At the high school level, an uneven floor at the electric vehicle venue caused some problems for the GHHS vehicle, which was designed to run on a flat surface. The team's robot also didn't perform as well as it could have, Reed said.
However, the head coach highlighted team successes in events such as Disease Detectives, Wright Stuff, Herpetology and especially Astronomy.
"That is such a difficult event," Reed said of the Astronomy event, where competitors Neil DeBoer and Derek VanderLaan placed sixth. "To do that well is really a fantastic thing."
The weekend wasn't all work and no play for the students, however. The teams took advantage of the competition location to do a little sightseeing around the nation's capitol on Thursday.
Both coaches said they would have liked to stay longer to give the students more time to explore, but they couldn't make it work with classroom schedules. Exams for the high school students start on Wednesday, and the last day of school for all students is Friday.
"I think this was a very rewarding, worthwhile and successful trip," said Bird on Sunday. "It was quite spectacular to be a part of this."
Reed said the teams' successes are a tribute to the ongoing support and teamwork of the coaches, students and parents.
"It's been a pleasure to be able to work with these students and see the things they've been able to accomplish for so many years," he said. "To be one of the top teams in the nation, year after year, it's really amazing. We have a lot of people where this is their last year, and it's been an honor to work with them."
The Grand Haven Area Public Schools Board of Education will recognize the White Pines and GHHS teams, along with the team from Lakeshore Middle School, at tonight's meeting. The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the White Pines Middle School cafeteria. The public is invited to attend and congratulate the teams for their tournament accomplishments.
