Medford has strong showing at Science Olympiad Invite

Medford Area Senior High School hosted a Science Olympiad invitational Saturday with more than a dozen schools throughout the state participating bringing a total of 38 teams of competitors across the middle and high school divisions.

Both MASH and MAMS finished in 4th place in the day-long contest which saw participants competing at a number of specific event areas throughout the day.

According to Brad Paff, a coach of the Medford Science Olympiad team, the MASH Varsity earned medals in 15 of 28 events, the MASH JV squad earned medals in two events.

At the middle school division, the Medford Area Middle School Varsity team had their top finishes with silver medals in Disease Detectives and Geocaching.

Paff gave a call out to strong showings from freshmen Jonathan Bartnik who medaled in four out of four events, including one gold and Cullen Jones who medaled in three out of his five events.

Going into the competition, Paff noted that they have a strong senior contingent on the team but will need to rebuild in future years. Having underclassmen medaling in multiple events helps solidify the future of the program for years to come.

“As far as surprises, I was surprised by the gold medals in Forensics and Bridges,” Paff said. “ In the case of Forensics, it shows that Gatlin Piller and Samson Whetstone have been putting in their hours practicing their lab skills and preparing their notes.”

“As for the Bridges event, Braxton has become a constant contender for the top spot, but usually comes in second to Boyceville. In this case, his approach to the competition stayed sturdy like his bridge, while the Boyceville team tried something new and came up short,” Paff said.

MAMS coach Gabe Gelhaus called out the outstanding efforts of all the competitors and highlighted a number of standout performances.

Notable MAMS Performance by 8th graders include: Hudson Crabb Medaling in five out of five events, Ellie Eckert medaling in five out of six events, Mya Matthias medaling in four out of six events and Dawson Gasek medaling in four out of five events. He said overall MAMS medaled in 21 out of 28 events