For the third time in a row, the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts won the Dolphin Challenge — the northern Texas competition for the National Ocean Sciences Bowl.
The National Ocean Sciences Bowl is a nationwide, high school science competition focused on marine issues and knowledge. Students demonstrate their knowledge of marine and coastal science by answering questions from biology, physics, chemistry, geology, geography, mathematics and the social sciences. Each team consists of four students plus an alternate and a coach.
The Dolphin Challenge regional competition was held Feb. 1 by the Texas Sea Grant College Program at the Texas A&M University campus in Galveston, Texas. The competition included teams from across Texas.
ASMSA’s A team of seniors Emily Smith, Howard Grant Orlina, Amadeo Scott, Kasey Meyer and Hadley Medlock defeated Brandeis High School from San Antonio, Texas, to win the region title. It was the second time the two teams played each other during the regional weekend. Brandeis defeated ASMSA in round robin play earlier in the tournament. ASMSA also eliminated Cypress Woods, Texas, in the afternoon single-elimination round after suffering a loss to Cypress Woods in the earlier round robin round.
“Our students really seemed to shine more in the afternoon when the questions became harder,” said Dr. Lindsey Waddell, a geoscience and chemistry instructor at ASMSA who served as the team’s coach. “When the questions are easier during the round robin rounds in the morning, the scores between two strong teams tend to be determined more by buzzer speed, and in particular by the decision of whether to risk losing four points for giving an incorrect answer after interrupting the reading of a question.”
ASMSA first won the regional title in 2017 followed by the 2019 regional competition. The 2018 regional competition was canceled in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.
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The team earned a trip to the National Ocean Sciences Bowl Finals on April 16-19 at the University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Park campus in Long Beach, Miss. Waddell said the team worked very hard over the past year to earn the regional title.
“My biggest fear with this team was that they might forget material during the year in between the regional competitions,” Waddell said. “However, they approached me about holding weekly buzzer practices beginning last spring, and they attended weekly practices this fall alongside students who were currently enrolled in my oceanography course.”
Students from Waddell’s fall oceanography class comprised ASMSA’s B team in the regional competition. Members of that team were seniors Esther Filipek, Gwen Coleman and Said Angeles and juniors Alec Gatewood and Terrance Meinardus.
Emily Smith, who served as captain of the A team, was a member of the ASMSA team that won last year’s regional title and competed for the national title.
For more information on the National Ocean Sciences Bowl, visit nosb.org.