Home Schools of Eastern Iowa wins Middle School Science Bowl

Contacts:                                                                                 For Release: Feb. 27, 2012
Steve Karsjen, Ames Lab Public Affairs, 515-294-5643

Homes Schools of Eastern Iowa staged a comeback to win the 2012 Ames Laboratory/Iowa State University Regional Middle School Science Bowl on Feb. 25. The Home Schools team defeated Ames Middle School to advance to the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Science Bowl in Washington, D.C., April 26-30.

The Home Schools team of Nicholas Leonard, Sarah Weieneth, Grace Talmage, Stephen Carrick and Logan Crittenden initially lost to Ames Middle School 72-30 in the quarterfinals of the double elimination tournament. They then won 64-34 over Stilwell Middle School of West Des Moines in the semifinal match to earn a rematch against Ames for the championship.

Home Schools won the first match 66-24 to give the Ames team of Tifany Chu, Divyesh Kumar, Shafim Khoda, William Crow and Nicholas Leung it first loss of the day. Because each team then had one loss, an extra match was necessary and Home Schools won that 42-26 to take the title.  This was Ames Middle School’s first appearance in the Ames Lab/ISU Regional in the event’s nine-year history.

Stilwell Middle School was third and LeMars finished fourth. A total of 16 teams competed in the academic quiz bowl competition.  Besides those mentioned above, the competition included middle schoolers from IKM- Manning, Mediapolis, Notre Dame (Burlington), Dike-New Hartford, St. Albert (Council Bluffs), Evans (Ottumwa), Pella Christian, Harding (Des Moines), Anthon-Oto-Maple Valley, South Hamilton, Madrid, and Williamsburg.

On Friday evening, the same schools competed in a car challenge, racing battery-powered model cars they designed and built. The Pella Christian team of Hanna Vos, Sam Lensing, Holden Hooyer, David Kacmarynski and Noah Griters won the car challenge, beating Notre Dame (Zachary Rashid, Emma Carper, Anna Tillo, Claudius Ciecko and Maggie Brueck) in the championship race. LeMars was third.

To see the results brackets from both the car challenge and academic competition, click here.

	First Place - Academic Home Schools of Eastern Iowa (Seated, l-r) Grace Talmage, Logan Crittenden, Sarah Weieneth; (Back, l-r) Coach Margie Leonard, Nicholas Leonard, Stephen Carrick, and Ames Laboratory Director Alex King
	Second Place - Academic Ames Middle School (Seated, l-r) William Crow, Tifany Chu, Divyesh Kumar; (Back, l-r) Ames Laboratory Director Alex King, Shafim Khoda, Nicholas Leung, and Coach Jean Krusi.
	Third Place - Academic Stilwell Middle School (Seated, l-r) Jacquelyne Chu, Abigail Smith, Nicholas Mulhem; (Back, l-r) Trevor Tyma, Joseph Brennan, and Coach Ruth Henderson.
	First Place - Car Challenge Pella Christian (Front, l-r) Holden Hooyer, Sam Lensing, Hanna Vos; (Back, l-r) Science Bowl Coordinator Steve Karsjen, Noah Gritters, David Kacmarynski, helper Alexia Alsum
	Second Place - Car Challenge Notre Dame (Front, l-r) Anna Tillo, Zachary Rashid, Emma Carper; (Back, l-r) Science Bowl Coordinator Steve Karsjen, Claudius Ciecko, Maggie Brueck.