NCS Wins State Championship in Science Olympiad

With gold medals in 10 of the 23 events, National Cathedral School captured first place in the 2016 Maryland Science Olympiad's small-school division Saturday at Johns Hopkins University.

The triumph comes in only the second season for NCS's Science Olympiad program, coached by STEM coordinator Nancy Ehrlich and math teacher Susan Karpatkin. Last year, NCS took second place at state.

In Science Olympiad, teams of 15 students square off in events involving biology, chemistry, physics, engineering, and earth science. Some events present students with open-book exams, while others call on them to construct things. Results are tallied, and the schools are ranked. The overall winner is the one that ranks near the top in most events.

NCS placed in the top four in all but one event, helping the team edge out Rockbridge Academy from Anne Arundel County for the small-school title. India Bhalla-Ladd '17 and Macallan Penberthy '17 each took home three gold medals. Five other students — Anna Christou '17, Danielle Horne '16, Nikki Krisztinicz '17, Eram Mallick '17, and Elizabeth Thoren '17 — won two events.

With the small and large divisions merged, NCS — the only all-girls team competing — finished sixth out of 25 schools, with Horne and Penberthy taking second place in two events.

Karpatkin highlighted the performance of Eliza Poggi '19, who stepped in at the 11th hour after team president Natalie Nigro '16 fell ill. Poggi competed in two events, winning a gold medal in Dynamic Planet with Bhalla-Ladd.

"We had an awesome turnout of NCS parents there, too, cheering us on in the stands," Karpatkin said.

Congratulations to the entire team that represented NCS so well!

India Bhalla-Ladd '17
Anna Christou '17
Alex Giannattasio '18
Gigi Grigorian '17
Danielle Horne '16
Nikki Krisztinicz '17
Eram Mallick '17
Lily McGrail '17
Natalie Nigro '16
Macallan Penberthy '17
Goldie Roth '17
Elizabeth Thoren '17
Margaret Thoren '17
Sophia Triantis '17
Michelle Zhu '17
Olivia Forrester (alternate) '18
Jordan Gasho (alternate) '18
Eliza Poggi (alternate) '19