A group of 30 Fayetteville-Manlius School District middle school students spent the past eight months preparing for the chance to participate in the New York State Science Olympiad Tournament, and their hard work paid off.
In March, both Eagle Hill and Wellwood middle schools had teams compete at the Regional Science Olympiad Division B competition at North Syracuse Junior High School, with Wellwood earning first place overall and Eagle Hill placing second among 19 middle school teams in the Midstate Region of New York. Students from both schools took home numerous individual medals (results listed below).
Both teams then advanced to the 2026 New York State Science Olympiad Division B Tournament, which was held April 24 and 25 at East Syracuse Minoa High School. The state tournament included the top 40 middle school teams from across New York that did the best at their Regional Competitions.
Students competed in 23 events that focused on science, technology and engineering. They worked in groups of two or three to complete tests, tasks, and builds that included content and required expertise at the high school and college level (even topics covered in masters and PhD programs). Each student was responsible for multiple events, all covering different subject areas.
Overall, out of the 40 competing teams, Wellwood placed 16th and Eagle Hill placed 24th.
In six of the 23 tournament events, Eagle Hill or Wellwood placed higher than one of the overall top two teams that qualified for the National Science Olympiad competition. Those six events were: Dynamic Planet, Meteorology, Potions and Poisons, Remote Sensing, Water Quality and Write It Do It.
In one event (Circuit Lab), both Eagle Hill and Wellwood placed higher than both of the overall top two teams.
Eagle Hill students medaled in four events, including a second place medal in Circuit Lab, a 10th place medal in Codebusters, a ninth place medal in Heredity and a second place medal in Remote Sensing.
The Wellwood Team received medals in six events: Anatomy and Physiology (10th), Circuit Lab (5th), Crime Busters (9th), Heredity (10th), Meteorology (8th), Potions and Poisons (3rd).
Regional Results
The Eagle Hill team received medals in 22 of the 23 Regional events.
- First place, two medals: Experimental Design, Remote Sensing
- Second place, nine medals: Circuit Lab, Codebusters, Dynamic Planet, Entomology, Helicopter, Mission Possible, Potions and Poisons, Scrambler, Water Quality
- Third place, four medals: Heredity, Meteorology, Metric Mastery, Solar System
- Fourth place, three medals: Boomilever, Disease Detectives, Hovercraft
- Fifth place, two medals: Machines, Rocks and Minerals
- Sixth place, two medals: Anatomy and Physiology, Crime Busters
The Wellwood team received medals in all 23 Regional events.
- First place, 12 medals: Anatomy and Physiology, Circuit Lab, Codebusters, Crime Busters, Dynamic Planet, Heredity, Machines, Meteorology, Mission Possible, Potions and Poisons, Scrambler, Water Quality
- Second place, five medals: Experimental Design, Hovercraft, Metric Mastery, Rocks and Minerals, Solar System
- Third place, two medals: Entomology, Remote Sensing
- Fourth place, one medal: Helicopter
- Sixth place, three medals: Boomilever, Disease Detectives, Write It Do It
Eagle Hill TEam Members
- Arhan Chaudhuri
- Damjin Choi
- Anika Das
- Maheen Iqbal
- Nikhil Jasti
- Eric Kim
- Neev Kirane
- Justine Kuchera
- William Liu
- Hannah Park
- Haya Park
- Romina Pashapour Nikou
- Emarin Thalappillil
- Daniel Yang
- Kevin Zang
Wellwood Team Members
- Hazel Bazzano
- Ishaan Deshmane
- James Do
- Selin Gursoy
- Lucas Hurley
- Leopold Introne
- Verity Lee
- Ethan LeRoy
- Fiona Lin
- Viola Lin
- Delong Ni
- Nandan Peddibhotla
- Ian Potter
- Hari Krishnan Vazhakolil Rajeevan
- Kevin Zheng