On March 19, 2022, the Science Olympiad team competed in their annual regional contest, this year held at Thurston High School. Led by Co-Presidents Igor Trifunovic ’22 and Ronak Parikh ’22, the team brought 15 participants to the event. The regional competition of 14 schools takes only the top four to the state meet. In a scoring style similar to golf, each school’s goal is to score as few points as possible. When it was all said and done, South’s 14 different events tallied up a total of 81 points. Unfortunately for them, that was two points behind third-place Plymouth, and one point behind fourth-place Canton, leaving them out of the state tournament by the slightest margin.

“Our team worked really hard for this, so it was a bit disappointing to see us fall short,” Vice President Nick Litsas ’22 said. “With that being said, though, I’m proud of many of the performances in individual events and at the competitions throughout the year.”

Despite the less-than-desired finish, South did have a few bright spots. Elena Simon ’23 and Jack Weber ’23 were able to take home the first-place finish in the Green Generation competition, and Camille O’Mara ’23 and Ema Elfson ’23 snatched gold in the Write it Do it event. Other notable performances include Parikh and Trifunovic finishing second in Detector Building, as well as Litsas riding solo and still grinding out a second-place finish in the Environmental Chem. A major congratulations go out to the entire Science Olympiad team for their resilience and discipline throughout the year to stay the course, even if the outcome wasn’t what they were hoping for.

Reflecting back on his time with the club, Trifunovic is very grateful for the wonderful opportunities it provided him.

“It’s been a thrill to take part in this year’s Science Olympiad season with the Grosse Pointe South team,” Trifunovic said. “And although we didn’t qualify for the state tournament this year, it’s been an incredibly enriching experience nonetheless.”

Looking into the not-so-distant future, Trifunovic is very optimistic about the program and feels the up-and-coming students will carry the team to future success.

“To see how my teammates have grown, learned, and passed on their knowledge to our underclassmen recruits,” Trifunovic said. “I know that this club will be in good hands next year.”