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WINNERS EARN TRIP TO WASHINGTON DC TO COMPETE FOR NATIONAL TITLE

Morgantown High School—Team 1and Suncrest Middle School—Team 1, Morgantown, captured the championship crowns in their respective categories in the 2015 West Virginia Science Bowl Regional for high schools and middle schools co-hosted on February 7, 2015 by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory and West Virginia University (WVU) at the Mountainlair on the WVU main campus.

Morgantown High School-Team 1: From left to right are Joseph Melia, coach; Sita Sunil, David Sokolov, Siddharth Subramanyam, and Alexandru Stanescu. Not pictured is team member Lily Mirfakhraie.

In the High School category, Morgantown High School—Team 1 overcame Morgantown High School—Team 2 in the final match to become this year’s regional high school champion. Wheeling Park High School—Team 1 and Ripley High School came in third and fourth place, respectively. Each of these four teams survived preliminary competitions last November and December involving 67 teams representing 41 high schools throughout the state. Twenty-two High School teams representing 19 schools qualified for the 2015 Regional competition.

In the Middle School category, Suncrest Middle School—Team 1 took the championship, overcoming Suncrest Middle School—Team 2 in the final match. Teams from St. Francis de Sales Central Catholic School—Team 1, Morgantown, and Mountaineer Middle School—Team 1, Clarksburg, placed third and fourth

Suncrest Middle School Team 1:From left to right are Christina Maloney, coach; Lauren Paine, Frank Liu, Sachin Thaker, Aishwarya Bandaru, and Jacob Smothers.

respectively. These four teams emerged from a field of 11 teams competing in the middle school competition held on February 6 in its inaugural year at the Mountainlair.

Both Morgantown High School—Team 1 and Suncrest Middle School—Team 1 will journey to Washington, D.C., as the West Virginia Science Bowl Regional high school and middle school representatives to DOE’s National Science Bowl® scheduled for April 30-May 4.

Members of the winning High School team are Siddharth Subramanyam, Alexandru Stanescu, Sita Sunil, David Sokolov and Lily Mirfakhraie. Joseph Melia is the coach.

Members of the Middle School championship team are Frank Liu, Lauren Paine, Aishwarya Bandaru, Jacob Smothers, and Sachin Thaker. The coach is Christina Maloney.

At the National Science Bowl®, High School will compete against elite high school science teams from around the country.  The students will have the opportunity to participate in science seminars and hands-on science discovery team challenges. Top teams will receive trophies and other awards, including science trips.  The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) created the National Science Bowl® and regional competitions to encourage high school students from across the nation to excel in math and science and pursue careers in those fields.

This year’s event included the welcoming address from U.S. Rep. David McKinley, W.Va. District 1, and welcoming remarks from NETL Director Dr. Grace Bochenek and WVU President E. Gordon Gee. All three speakers praised the students for their achievements and encouraged them to have fun as they competed in today’s event.

NETL is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory that produces technological solutions to America’s energy challenges. For more than 100 years, the laboratory has focused on developing tools and processes to provide clean, reliable, and affordable energy to the American people. Three NETL research sites—Albany, Ore., Morgantown, W.Va., and Pittsburgh, Pa.—conduct a broad range of energy and environmental research and development activities that support DOE’s mission to advance the national, economic, and energy security of the United States.

Follow the West Virginia Science Bowl Regional on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/WVRegionalScienceBowl.