The New Jersey Regional Science Bowl final contests Feb. 21 and 22 at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory were nail-biters to the end with Princeton Charter School and Ridge High School, of Basking Ridge, New Jersey, battling it out to win the right to compete in the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Science Bowl® in Washington, D.C.
In the final rounds of the high school contest on Feb. 22, Ridge High School was tied with the undefeated High Technology High School, of Lincroft, New Jersey, at 96 points at the end of Round 12. The two teams then went to a second bonus round in which they once again tied at 108. In the third bonus round - or second overtime - Ridge scored four points to win the contest.
"Hopefully all your heart rates have come down to normal!" said host Andrew Zwicker, head of PPPL's Office of Communications and Public Outreach, before handing out the awards. "I just want to thank all of the teams! We started eight hours ago and just crowned the winner!"
It was the second win in a row for Ridge High School. A few of the team members have been competing since middle school and also won the middle school contest for the William Annin Middle School in 2016. "That was really close!" said Kaivalya Hariharan, a senior, who is a team captain and has been coming to Science Bowl for seven years. "Every year the teams get better!"
High Technology High School won second place and Bergen County Academy, of Hackensack, New Jersey, won third place.
The winners from each competition will win an all-expense paid trip to the National Science Bowl® in Washington, D.C., from April 30 to May 5. The middle school team winner will compete against 49 other regional teams, while the high school champion will compete against 64 other teams. The DOE's Office of Science manages the National Science Bowl®
