April 6. The largest number of students ever from William A. Hough High School participated in the NC Regional Science Olympiad at UNC-Charlotte. Hough had 42 students participate on three team, with all of them—Varsity, JV1, and JV2—winning the Spirit Award. The award recognizes teams that have a positive attitude, exemplify teamwork, have respect for the rules and their fellow competitors, and exhibit excellent sportsmanship.
The Varsity team received a trophy for placing 6th overall out of 25 Varsity teams at the event. This is the second time the Hough Varsity team has placed at the Olympiad. The Varsity team members won medals in multiple events. The Varsity medal winners are:
1st place – Sharonda Adams and Lauren Crawford (Ecology)
2nd place – Jeffrey Barzach and Steven Chen (Wind Power)
4th place – Jeffrey Barzach and Steven Chen (Chem Lab and Remote Sensing) and Julia Carr and Grace Elliott (Invasive Species)
6th Place – Sierra Archibald and Ariana Stout (Materials Science) and Kaplin Mok and Erika Mackenzie (Helicopters)
7th place – Julia Carr and Grace Elliot (Dynamic Planet) and Victoria Tran and Antonio Zuniga (Hovercraft)
8th place – Grace Elliott and Christina D’Ovidio (Microbe Mission) and Lauren Madey and Sierra Archibald (Amazing Mechatronics)
The Junior Varsity1 (JV1) team received a trophy for placing 3rd overall out of 14 Junior Varsity teams at the event. This is the first time a Hough Junior Varsity team has placed at the Olympiad. Junior Varsity team members won medals in multiple events. The JV medal winners are:
1st place – Rees Payne and Sebastian Alberdi (Materials Science), Vivian Moore, Alexis McDonnell, and Sophia Carr (Codebusters) and Grayson Peeler and Rocco Li (Remote Sensing)
2nd place – Luna Wang and Sarah Edwards (Bottle Rocket) and Alex Simpson and David Carlin (Write It, Do It)
3rd place – Rees Payne and Sebastian Alberdi (Duct Tape Challenge), Genevieve Paul and Emily Foster (Microbe Mission), and Jonathan Ponder and David Carlin (Towers)
4th place – Rocco Li and Sarah Edwards (Invasive Species) and Sophia and Julia Leeman (Optics)
