Merit Academy placed fifth and 25th at the Colorado State Science Olympiad Competition at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs on April 1.

In their first year of competition, Merit Academy garnered the first top-five finish for any school in Woodland Park since 1994.

“It was a tremendous improvement from regional competition to state competition,’ coach Tim Lundt said. “The students did a wonderful job for a first-year program. What a great STEM experience for the students”

Merit Academy had two teams in the competition, with the blue team taking fifth and the red team taking 25th.

Sixteen schools represented the north region and 14 schools represented the south region, for a total of 30 middle school teams.

Merit Academy placed second in Meteorology ( Marie Wiseman and Natasha Viele), third in Experimental Design (Jon Wiseman, Ruth Wiseman, Kaitlyn Dill), fourth in Wheeled Vehicle (Kaitlyn Dill, Ashlyn Halcomb), fourth in Can’t Judge A Powder (Lilly Faircloth, Journee Coen). fifth in Roller Coaster (Jon Wiseman, Ruth Wiseman), fifth in Dynamic Planet (Ruth Wiseman, Kaitlyn Dill), fifth in Forestry (Marie Wiseman, Natasha Viele) and fifth in Solar System (Jon Wiseman, Ruth Wiseman).

“Science Olympiad was lots of fun, an amazing experience and I hope to do it again next year,” Merit Academy student Ruth Wiseman said.

The complete results can be found on the Colorado Science Olympiad Website.

Teams from Preston Middle School in Fort Collins took first and third place. Homeschool Science Colorado took second.