Academic team takes fifth in science bowl

Five Douglas High School students took $500 home from Las Vegas. The members of the school's academic team placed fifth in the Nevada Regional Science Bowl on Feb. 12.

Academic team coach Larry Lippmann said he's done the science bowl for 14 years.

"We usually make a good showing," said Lippmann. "The team has been fifth, fourth and up to third place. We have gotten very close which is difficult to do with 31 other talented teams.

"We did well this year. We had a shot - as good as any there. The $500 check will go towards academic team expenses we have throughout the year and our budget was getting low," he said.

These members of the academic team were selected as the best in science and math to compete in the science bowl:

n Seth Bartlett, senior;

n Tommy Kelly, sophomore;

n Jacob Sanford, sophomore;

n David Sturgess, senior;

n Kirby Wigton, sophomore;

The Department of Energy created the science bowl in 1991 to encourage students to excel in math and science and to pursue scientific and technical careers. This year, 32 teams competed in the regional bowl with Las Vegas' Meadows School winning the $5,000 first-place prize and the chance to represent the region in the National Science Bowl competition in Washington, D.C., in April.

Lippmann said Douglas met second-place Reno High School twice in the science bowl.

"We beat them the first time but we lost the second time around," he said. "The competition was exciting. It's a treat for the kids to go to Las Vegas. It's paid for by DOE. They have a blast."

The dozen-member Douglas academic team meets once a week to practice and drill each other with questions. Besides the annual science bowl, the team participates in an academic league with Whittell, Carson City and Churchill County high schools.

The competitions are similar to Jeopardy with questions covering math, science, literature, current events and a potpourri category.

In their season opener, the Douglas team beat Churchill County two out of three rounds. The competition runs for a total of four weeks and culminates with a final tournament at the Carson Nugget April 3.