On Saturday, April 2, 2022, the Fossil Ridge High School Science Olympiad team took first place in the state tournament. The competition was held at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs.

Fossil’s Science Olympiad has three different teams, two of which went to the state competition. 

Fossil’s “Team Black” was the team which got first place, winning ten medals out of the 23 total events, and achieving a final score of 119 points. Homeschool Science Olympiad was behind them with 161 total points taking second place. Fossil’s “Team Green” secured third place, just two points behind Homeschool Science Olympiad with a total of 163 points.

For the state of Colorado, only the top team gets the privilege of competing at nationals and with the lowest score being the winner, Fossil’s “Team Black” will be doing just that. The team will compete at nationals, hosted by Caltech, virtually, May 9 through May 14. 

Melissa Vigil, the head coach for Science O, explained that last year was difficult. Trying to coordinate, attend, and practice events virtually was truly a challenge and especially the sudden incorporation of competitions being on a completely new platform was a shock. Thankfully, this year was much better in that regard. 

Preparation for the national competition is now in full swing. One of the components of this is not just studying or practicing events, but filming their segment for the opening ceremonies that will be streamed during nationals. “We are going to go up to Horsetooth and  [film] our opening ceremony at the reservoir,” says Vigil. The beautiful scenery in the mountains will represent both Colorado and Fort Collins very well at the national level.

Vigil admits that the members are “a special group that came in” and the most rewarding part of coaching is simply the students. Be sure to congratulate these students, and the Science Olympiad team as a whole, on their huge success this year and wish them luck as they prepare to compete at the national competition.