Benet Academy’s Science Olympiad Team went to its regional competition on Saturday, March 10, at College of DuPage, wrapping up a season full of hope and excitement with a disappointing loss by four points to York High School. As a result, Benet placed sixth overall on the varsity level, failing to qualify as one of the top five teams to advance to the state competition at University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. Although a bitter end to the season, the team can look proudly over their accomplishments this year and gaze with hope to the future.
Benet competes at four Science Olympiad competitions each year, at Harlem, Crystal Lake Central, Niles West, and College of DuPage. The first three competitions are all invitationals, a chance for the team to practice their events before the qualifying regional competition at College of DuPage. This year, the team had several members who enjoyed repeated success and growth throughout the season. Seniors Ryan and Sarah Habeck, longtime Science Olympians specializing in life science events, exceled from the start as they placed in top positions for close to all their events throughout the year and took home several second and fourth place medals from the regional competition. Sophomore Paul Skaluba and junior Gino Kozel also frequented the top of the leaderboard this season, placing fourth in both the events the worked together on at regionals. Skaluba was also the only member of the Benet team to place first in an event at regionals for his work in building a model tower. Juniors Kaylie Scorza and Emil Cacyan also found success this season, working both in tandem and independently on events that netted them several top positions throughout the year, with Scorza winning a second-place medal at regionals for her work in the Ecology event with Sarah Habeck.
Benet’s Science Olympiad Team accomplished a great deal this season, despite the close loss that came at its end. Now they look to next year for another chance to return to Urbana-Champaign and prove themselves at the state competition.