A team of five Mira Loma High School students has ranked second among 67 teams from across the country in this year's U.S. Department of Energy National Science Bowl.
Santa Monica High School's team secured the title in Monday's National Finals competition, held in Washington, D.C.
More than 12,000 students from across the country began competing in regional competitions earlier this spring.
Winners secured a spot in the national contest.
In the Sacramento competition, Mira Loma's "A" and "B" teams won first and second place, respectively, but the "A" team was unable to attend the finals because of testing conflicts, said coach James Hill.
So it was a big win when the "B" team of two freshmen, two sophomores and a junior beat out teams mostly full of seniors.
"They really knocked out some of the powerhouses that have been in the competition a long period of time," Hill said. "It was really unbelievable."
Competing students answered questions about all things science in a quiz show format.
A few math questions were thrown in, too, including the one that clinched the title for Santa Monica High.
The Mira Loma team – consisting of students Andrew Chen, Aninda Chowdhury, Rishi Kulkarni, Edward Lee and Sriram Pendyala – has been preparing since August. They started by meeting about once a week, and slowly increased their commitment until they were meeting up to four times a week before the nationals, Hill said.
With their second-place finish, the team won a trip to a nuclear science facility in France, as well as $1,000 for Mira Loma's science department.
Hill said his students already are excited about preparing for next year – after their jaunt to Paris, of course.
"There's tons of potential for them now," he said.
Call The Bee's Kim Minugh, (916) 321-1038.
