For immediate release

Contacts: 
Steve Karsjen, (515) 294-5643, karsjen@ameslab.gov

AMES WINS 2005 AMES LAB/ISU SCIENCE BOWL

Des Moines Central Academy second, Cedar Falls third

AMES, Iowa – After a three-year drought, Ames returned to championship form here Saturday, winning all 10 of its matches to take the championship of the 15th annual Regional Science Bowl, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory and Iowa State University. Ames defeated Des Moines Central Academy 78-16 in the championship match to earn the right to represent the Iowa Region in the DOE’s National Science Bowl®, April 29-May 3 in Washington, D.C.

This was the sixth time Ames has won the overall title, also taking the title three straight years from 1994-96, and again in 2000 and 2001. Ames breezed through its five morning matches, winning by an average margin of 130 points. In the double-elimination afternoon rounds, Ames beat Humboldt, Urbandale and Dubuque Hempstead, then defeated Cedar Falls 90-48 in the semi-final match.

That loss sent Cedar Falls to the consolation bracket and into a rematch with Central Academy of Des Moines. Cedar Falls had won the first meeting 76-64, but Central Academy jumped out to a 58-8 halftime lead and won the rematch by a final score of 106-20. Dubuque Hempstead was the other quarterfinalist.

A total of 47 teams from across Iowa competed in the day-long event. Students answer a variety of science and math questions in a quiz-bowl format. Points are awarded for answering toss-up and bonus questions. The teams competed in round-robin pools during the morning with the top two teams from each of the eight pools advancing to the afternoon round.

Besides those four placewinners mentioned above, the “Sweet 16” teams competing in the afternoon double-elimination competition included:
Humboldt, Urbandale, Jefferson, North Scott, Boone, West Des Moines Dowling, Cedar Rapids Washington, Iowa City Regina, Fort Dodge, Waverly-Shell Rock, West Des Moines Valley, and Newton.

The Ames High winning team of Neal Marasinghe, Gan Qi, Chuck Cleary, Joshua Moloney, and Pan Xin will face off at the National Science Bowl® against winners from the other 65 Regionals being held nationwide. The win was particularly sweet for Marasinghe, who was a freshman member of the Ames team that finished second to Cedar Falls in 2002.

“Neal’s our four-year starter,” said Ames High coach (and former Little Cyclone football coach), Kirk Daddow, “so it was nice for him to finally get a championship.”

While Daddow loses only Marasinghe to graduation, Central Academy coach Jeff Hepburn has his entire team back next year. Diane Brown, Timothy Larson, Stephanie Schulze, and Evan Waddell are “all just juniors and this was the first year for any of them,” Hepburn said, “so I’m very happy with their performance.”

Ames Laboratory is operated for the Department of Energy by Iowa State University. The Lab conducts research into various areas of national concern, including energy resources, high-speed computer design, environmental cleanup and restoration, and the synthesis and study of new materials.
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Editors: Digital images of the top three teams and nearly all of the competing schools are available by contacting Kerry Gibson, (515) 294-1405 or kgibson@ameslab.gov

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