Northwood’s varsity Science Olympiad team took second place out of 29 teams in the Buies Creek Regional Science Olympiad competition Feb. 17. The team, led by coach Dr. Victoria Raymond, qualified for the state Science Olympiad competition at N.C. State on April 21.
“I was very impressed,” Raymond said. “ You never quite know when you’re going into an Olympiad competition, because we may feel like we’re bringing it, and then another team brings it more.”
Junior Adam Khrais is content with the team’s finish.
“It was great,” Khrais said. “We worked hard for it. We put in the effort, and we got the outcome we wanted.”
Also, the junior varsity team finished first in their division. These finishes follow up a first place finish by both squads in the regional competition last year. Raymond strongly believes the team’s success can continue into the future.
“Northwood now can be a dynasty team,” Raymond says. “They know us when we’re coming in the room now, and it makes me proud of our school that we can consistently perform at such a high level in our region.”
As for this year’s state competition, Raymond is optimistic the team can perform higher than expectations.
“We’ve been 15th, 16th and 18th out 50, which is pretty good,” Raymond said. “I really want us to crack that top 15, but ultimately I think Northwood could crack the top 10.”
Khrais has even higher expectations.
“I believe we can do very well,” Khrais said. “We have a very talented varsity team that is able to overcome anything. Hopefully, we can finish top five.”
But Raymond says the team has some work to do if they want to reach that goal.
“We’re not there yet,” Raymond said. “That’s what the next month and a half is for. The state competition is in April, and the students themselves know whether they can look back at regional and know they’re in good shape.”
Khrais agrees.
“We need to keep showing up to practices, putting in the effort and working as a team,” Khrais said.
– By Jeffrey Marcin
