ANNA — The Anna Middle School Science Olympiad team placed sixth in the Science Olympiad tournament in Piqua, March 18.

The team of 20 students included ninth-graders Caleb Gaier, Bryce Havenar, Adrienne Endsley, Cole Maurer, Mackensie Littlefield; eighth-graders Dylan Seigle, Courtney Dulebohn, Victorea Long; seventh-graders Brandon Axe, Josie Gehret, Lauren Thornhill, Claire Aiken, Merritt Alspaugh, Ethan Doyle, Kaylie Kipp; and sixth-graders Ryan Noll, Ava Bertke, Brianna Brewer, Ethan Maurer, and Mark Harshbarger, and was coached by Jeff Maurer and Kim Osborne.

The team competed individually or in groups in a series of 23 events testing members’ knowledge of science skills, processes and applications in a science disciplines, including biology, chemistry, physics, technology, earth science and mathematics.

The Anna Middle School team will advance to the state finals at the Ohio State University in Columbus, April 1, where the 40 best junior and senior high school teams will compete. The winner in each division will spar in the National Science Olympiad Tournament, which will be at Wright State University, May 19-20th.

Sponsored by the Ohio State University, the Ohio Science Olympiad is an academic, interscholastic competition designed to increase student interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics and to improve the quality of science education. The program has grown phenomenally from just 23 teams competing in state competition in 1985 to more than 300 teams competing in eight regional tournaments in 2017. Nationally, more than 350,000 students are involved in the Science Olympiad program.

The following Anna Middle School students earned medals in their events at the Piqua Regional Competition: Caleb Gaier and Mackensie Littlefield in an event called “Fast Facts,” Cole Maurer and Adrienne Endsley in “Tower Building,” Ethan Maurer and Merritt Alspaugh in an event called “Mission Possible,” and Cole Maurer and Mackensie Littlefield in “Dynamic Planet.”