Knox takes first place in Science Olympiad Invitational at LMU

KC students hold trophies and wear ribbons at the event.

Students at Knox Central crossed the state line and brought back a win at a regional Science Olympiad invitational held at Lincoln Memorial University (LMU).

LMU School of Mathematics and Sciences hosted six teams for the Science Olympiad Invitational, with participants from Knox Central (first place), Bell County (second place), Corbin High School (third place), and Concord Christian School of Farragut (fourth place).  Knox Central Team B and Bell County Team B placed fifth and sixth. This marked the third annual event and was held on February 15.

Knox Central High School earned medals in 22 of 23 events, winning the competition by 29 points.

KC students hold trophies and wear ribbons at the event.

“Science Olympiad is one of the nation’s most prestigious STEM competitions, and these students have been preparing for months,” said Dr. Ashleigh Thomas, assistant professor of chemistry in a news release from the University. “The LMU School of Mathematics and Sciences was pleased to offer this invitational as an opportunity for the schools to prepare for regionals.”

Their sponsor is Travis Mills, who coordinates Science Olympiad for both Knox Central and Knox County Middle.  Mills reports that there are over 100 students participating in Science Olympiad this year from Knox County.  Their first regional competition will be held at Somerset Community College on March 21st.

Winners from Knox Central

1st Place Anatomy & Physiology – Lynnsey Cole and Rebekah Mills
1st Place Astronomy – Cage Grubb & Kandace Messer
1st Place Boomilever – Zach Blevins & Brayden Roark
2nd Place Chemistry Lab – Nate Partin & Macy Whitehead
2nd Place Circuit Lab – Logan Callihan & Madison Payne
1st Place Codebusters – Summer Mills, Cage Grubb, Madison Payne
1st Place Designer Genes – Lynnsey Cole & Rebekah Mills
2nd Place Disease Detectives – Morgan Warren & Kandace Messer
2nd Place Dynamic Planet – Cage Grubb & Madison Payne
2nd Place Experimental Design – Morgan Warren, Zach Blevins, Joe Brown
3rd Place Experimental Design – Kaeli Hale, Abby Sharp, Jacob Barnard
3rd Place Forensics – Lucy Jackson & Emma Callihan
1st Place Fossils – Nate Partin & Summer Mills
2nd Place Geologic Mapping – Cage Grubb & Kandace Messer
1st Place Gravity Vehicle – Zach Blevins & Joe Brown
2nd Place Machines – Luke Young & Will Adams
3rd Place Machines – Joe Brown & Logan Callihan
1st Place Ornithology – Lynnsey Cole & Macy Whitehead
3rd Place Ornithology – Braxton Chadwell & Drew Hale
3rd Place Ping Pong Parachute – Brayden Roark & Zach Blevins
3rd Place Protein Modeling – Lynnsey Cole & Rebekah Mills
1st Place Water Quality – Madison Payne & Morgan Warren
1st Place Wright Stuff – Zach Blevins & Joe Brown
2nd Place Wright Stuff – Brady Carnes & Will Adams
2nd Place Write it Do it – Zach Blevins & Morgan Warren
3rd Place Write it Do it – Kaylee Smith & David Stewart

OVERALL TEAM RESULTS
1st Place Knox Central – 47
2nd Place Bell County – 76
3rd Place Corbin – 88

About Science Olympiad

Science Olympiad is a Chicago-area-based national nonprofit organization founded in 1984 and dedicated to improving the quality of K-12 STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) education, increasing student interest in science, creating a technologically literate workforce and providing recognition for outstanding achievement by both students and teachers. Thousands of students and teams from all 50 states compete in regional, state and national Science Olympiad tournaments each year.

Special thanks to Nikki Lockhart at LMU for contributing to this story release.