A team from Wayzata High School won a regional Science Bowl competition and will represent Minnesota at the national championship in suburban Washington, D.C., this spring.
Wayzata came out on top among 33 teams from 17 schools Saturday at the regional held at Macalester College in St. Paul. Two teams from Minnetonka grabbed second and third.
The regional featured head-to-head competition in a fast-paced question-and-answer format similar to television's "Jeopardy!" quiz show. Questions covered biology, chemistry, earth and space science, energy, math and physics.
Wayzata's roster of Geoffrey Chen, Ben Weiner, Matthew Qu, Aayush Gupta and Stephen Chen were coached by Amanda Laden.
"It's something I really enjoy and the closest you can get to a sport that's academic," Gupta said in an interview for the Minnesota Academy of Science. "It's also given me a lot of opportunities. It's a great way to meet peers who are like you."
The Department of Energy hosts the National Science Bowl, scheduled for April 25 to April 29 at the National 4-H Youth Conference Center in Chevy Chase, Md.
The regional bowl for middle-schoolers is scheduled for Feb. 9 at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.
The Department of Energy created the National Science Bowl in 1991 to encourage students to excel in math and science and to pursue careers in those fields.
Regionals are being held around the country — 65 for at the high school level and 50 for middle school — drawing more than 13,000 participants combined.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482