After months of preparation and unexpected obstacles, SHS Science Olympiad members achieved success, finishing fourth at their regional competition on March 7, 2026.

In Science Olympiad, members compete in a multitude of events covering STEM topics like biology, chemistry, physics, engineering, and technology. 

“We try to take people’s preferences into consideration … when assigning events. If there are conflicts, we take into account experience and performance,” co-captain Hannah Wang, 12, said.

Members are responsible for preparing for their own events, whether that be putting together a build, compiling information in a binder, taking practice tests, or creating a cheat sheet. Both teams spent countless hours preparing for the competition, mostly outside of club meetings.    

Many team members cited time management as their biggest challenge. “It was hard trying to prepare and study for the events while studying for classes and going to school,” Hyori Han, 11, said. “I tried to do a little each day for my test events and found time during the weekends to build.” Rachel Brower, 11, utilized a more regimented schedule. “I set aside at least 30 minutes each night devoted to studying,” Brower said. 

Even with all of their preparations, both teams faced a lot of last-minute challenges, including a sick team member, a build event falling apart hours before it was set to be tested, and back-to-back events leaving team members racing from building to building. 

Brower recalled her partner’s sudden sickness as “unfortunate” and a bit stressful. “We had [originally] split the [content] so she could prepare half in depth and I could do the other [half],” said Brower. “Because she wasn’t able to attend, I was taking the test without much knowledge [of that second half].” Still, other team members stepped up and supported her, and Brower ended up earning a third place medal in her event.

Han noted that the location of her event buildings posed a complication for her. “Because some [of my event locations] were spaced out, there wasn’t a lot of time in between [my] events [and] I had to rush a bit,” Han said. However, looking at a map beforehand, Han added, helped “save some time.”

No difficulty fazed Science Olympiad members, least of all co-captain Lisa Kai, 12. “We just tried to focus on … what we could control, not what we couldn’t,” she explained. Instead of dwelling on what went wrong during the competition, Kai aimed to build camaraderie and found humor in what went well. “I’m just proud of our build members for not getting disqualified this year,” she joked.

With this mindset, the team rallied together and had quite the result. Team A placed in the top six in 14 separate events—more than half of all the events they participated in. The team also placed fourth overall, becoming one of only six schools to move on to the state competition on April 18, 2026. This is the third year in a row a SHS Science Olympiad team has qualified for states.

Team B members also did extraordinarily well. Composed of mostly new members, the team defied expectations, placing eighth overall and earning seven top six medals. 

The moment is bittersweet for seniors on the team. “I’m going to miss eating lunch with my teammates at Dave’s on the OSU campus, and just talking during the bus ride,” said Wang. “But I’m hopeful the competition goes smoothly, and I can end my Science Olympiad journey on a high note.” 

No matter what challenges the state competition brings, Science Olympiad members have already proven they can handle them—by adapting to setbacks, supporting one another, and finding success in the small victories.