MERRIMACK – Months and months of hard work and preparation from Merrimack High School science students paid off, as the school’s Science Olympiad Team was recently recognized as the champion of the Science Olympiad state tournament.

The event took place at Saturday Saint Anselm College.

Merrimack students competed against squads representing 20 other Granite State schools. The competition challenges students to solve problems in five broad science categories: Life, Personal and Social Science, Earth and Space Science, Physical Science and Chemistry, Technology and Engineering, and Inquiry and Nature of Science.

Teams of 15 students competed in 23 different, consisting of both “builds,” which are completed before competition time, and tests, or a combination of both.

Michelle Landry is secretary of the Merrimack High School Science Olympiad Booster Club. She said students have been preparing since September for this competition by creating study binders, learning testing and lab techniques, and building elaborate machines that can fly, execute chemical reactions, create perfect pitch and stop on a dime.

This year marks Merrimack’s 10th state title.

Merrimack club officials attribute the success to a strong team dynamic and to their dedicated coach, Tyler Golemo.

Senior captains Andrew Pitten and Jason Provencher led Merrimack’s team on Saturday. The squad received medals in, or placed in, 21 of the 23 categories of competition. The club was split into two teams – Merrimack Team A and Merrimack Team B. Those on Team A won eight gold, four silver, and three bronze medals.

On Team A, Provencher, Pitten, senior Reese Johnson, senior Nate Liscouski, junior Troy Church, junior Marcus Herold, junior Dillon Landry, sophomore Michael Clark, sophomore Nicholas Gacharna and sophomore Rohan Sreenivasan each received gold medals in their events.

On Team B, junior Sidhanth Dhanaraj, junior Sean Diggins, sophomore Sean Trimper and freshman Jon Heimberg recieved medals.

In the area of test and analytical events, Reese Johnson, Liscouski, Landry, Church, junior Natalie Desilets, Sreenivasan, Clark, and sophomore Tori Tacito received gold medals. Senior Sam Bailey and sophomore Jade Sahinidis received silver and bronze medals, respectively.

Also from Merrimack’s Team B, junior Jaqueline Morin, Diggins, junior Conor Duston and freshman Andrea Bartus recieved medals.

Up next for the team is the national competition, set for June 1 at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

The students are now fundraising for the trip to Cornell, and are asking for support. Those interested in helping the team can visit: //www.gofundme.com/MerrimackHighSchool-science-olympiad-fundraiser###.

Money raised will go toward competition registration fees, supplies for team builds and event materials, and travel expenses for out-of-state competitions.

Grace Pecci may be reached at 594-1243, or at gpecci@nashuatelegraph.com.

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