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St. Andrew's wins Science Bowl at WT

They're going to the U.S. Department of Energy National Science Bowl in June.

The St. Andrew's Episcopal School red team won the fifth Middle School Science Bowl on Saturday afternoon at West Texas A&M University.

The team celebrated by high-fiving and hugging one another after winning the finals.

One of the team members, Saahil Mehta, said he loves science and math.

"Math and science are my life," Saahil Mehta said. "Ask any one of them, I'm a nerd."

Two of the red team members, Saahil and his brother Kunal Mehta, made the nationals last year.

Last year, the team made it to the fifth round at nationals, seventh-grade team member Saahil said.

"This year, I've studied a lot more," he said. "I typed 108 pages of condensed notes."

Saahil learned a lot of things at last year's national competition, but he's always kept this in mind: "Don't get nervous," he said.

If a question comes up and the answer is known, it's more difficult to answer the question if that person is nervous, Saahil Mehta said.

Each team member studied a different subject to prepare for competition, eighth-grade team member Niral Desai said. Doing that seems to have paid off.

"You can't just have one smart person," Kunal Mehta said. "They all have to know things."

Bowl competition consists of two halves. Each half is eight minutes long.

A team scores four points if it answers a toss up question correctly. That team then gets a bonus question worth 10 points.

The best strategy is to go into each competition like the team is the underdog, Kunal Mehta said.

"It keeps us on our toes," Kunal Mehta said.

It's been tons of fun, red team coach Marcella Herrington said. The students have a good time competing.

Team members Saahil and Kunal Mehta, Desai and Cooper Lindsey will all go to Denver for the national bowl June 19-22, along with alternate Nikit Desai.

The competition Saturday was sponsored by the Pantex Plant. The morning session was a round-robin among the 21 teams separated into four divisions. The top four in each division made it to the 16-team double-elimination tournament in the afternoon.

Teams had to buzz in and try to answer the question correctly. If the first team answered the question incorrectly, the other team would have a chance to answer it. Topics included earth science, physical science, life science, general science and math.

St. Andrew's red team also won $1,000 for its science program.

Second place was de Zavala Middle School's blue team; it won $500 for the science program. Third place was Canyon Junior High School's purple team; it won $250.

Schools participating in the Pantex-sponsored competition were St. Andrew's, de Zavala, Canyon, Arbor Christian Academy, Clarendon Junior High, Greenways Intermediate School, Highland Park Middle School, Lazbuddie Middle School, Panhandle Junior High, River Road Middle School and San Jacinto Christian Academy.