Middle school students in the district’s academically gifted EXCEL program competed against 38 other Science Olympiad teams in the Eastern Long Island Region, finishing in sixth place at the regional competion, held on Feb. 27 at Candlewood Middle School in Dix Hills.

According to adviser Julia Johnson, Islip was at a disadvantage with only 14 team members, as a complete Science Olympiad team consists of 15 students. However, they didn’t let their smaller team size hold them back, participating in 18 events, earning a total of eight medals and ending as sole winners of the Quiz Bowl. Their performance earned them a sixth-place overall trophy, which qualified Islip as an alternate team for the upcoming state competition.

The Islip EXCEL Science Olympiad team consisted of Olivia Berger, James Cottral, Devin DePass, Elizabeth DeSimone, Madelyn Germano, Emmie Jensen, Brandon Kelly, Sheyla Lopez, Noah Margolin, Jaelyn McCracken, Vasu Persaud, Brooke Sullivan, Jamie Torrie and Gregory Warnokowski.

Medals were earned in the categories of Mission Possible (second place for Berger and Jensen), Road Scholar (second place for Germano and Warnokowski), Scrambler (second place for Germano and Sullivan), Fossils (third place for Margolin and Persaud), Dynamic Planet (fifth place for Berger and DeSimone), Elastic Launched Glider (fifth place for Germano and Warnokowski), Air Trajectory (DePass and Jensen) and Meteorology (sixth place for McCracken and Persaud).