FORT LORAMIE — The Fort Loramie Local Schools Science Olympiad team competed at the state level, Saturday, April 28, at the Ohio State University and put in its best showing yet.
The team was ranked 29th of 40 teams in the competition.
Austin Meyer and Austin Pleiman earned seventh place in Dynamic Planet, which is the best finish in an individual event for Fort Loramie. Other top finishers included Collin Luthman and Joe Ballas placing 11th in Anatomy and Physiology; Joe Ballas, Jake Rethman and Evan Luthman earning 16th in Experimental Design; and Austin Meyer and James Keller placing 16th in Towers.
Each year, there are more than 300 teams in the state of Ohio who compete in Science Olympiad, making it one of the most competitive states in Science Olympiad. Only 40 teams from junior high and 40 teams from high school qualify for state competition each year. For the third year in a row Fort Loramie High School’s Science Olympiad was one of those teams. Teams are not divided based on school size as they are in athletics; all high schools compete against each other and all junior high schools compete against each other. This can make qualifying for state that much more challenging for small schools. On March 17, the Fort Loramie team competed at the Piqua Regional tournament. There were 20 teams in the region and the top five qualified for state competition. Fort Loramie finished third, earning a regional trophy for Division C (high school division) and highest finish in any competition for a high school team from Fort Loramie.
On the team were Austin Meyer, Collin Luthman, Chloe Scheer, Joe Ballas, Jake Rethman, Lydia Stricker, Nora Beresik, James Keller, Evan Luthman, Kaden Mescher, Evan Eilerman, Isaiah Scheer, Adam Ballas and Austin Pleiman.
