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HUNTERSVILLE — St. Mark School is proud to announce that eighth-graders Arielle Ippolito and Michaela Schlegel took first place in the Reach for the Stars, Division B (Middle School) of the N.C. Science Olympiad State Tournament April 27-28 at North Carolina State University.

In addition to the first-place finish, the entire St. Mark's varsity team competed in 23 events and was awarded nine placements in the top 10.

The school's Science Olympiad team is comprised of 18 students who began working on their projects in December. The team is organized and mentored by eighth-grade science teacher Kris Lyles. Parent-volunteers then serve as coaches for the teams, meeting on average three times a week for five months. It is a time-consuming commitment that the students, parents and teachers all make.

Pictured: St. Mark Catholic School's 2012 Science Olympiad team is pictured, bottom row (from left): Sydney Puerto-Meredith, Emily Desormeaux, Katie Bruce, Kristy Blough and Faith Morgan; second row (from left): Megan Jackson, Alex Mielcarek, Michaela Schlegel and Arielle Ippolito; third row (short row on right side of railing, from left): Mary Kiefriter and Juliette Smetana; top row (from left): Evan Hendrickson, Derek Febo, Joseph Hanshaw, Jack O'Malley, Sean-Thomas Saloom, Logan Thayer and Sam Hester. (Photo provided by Amy Burger)

The top 10 team placement awards are as follows:

First place in Reach for the Stars – Arielle Ippolito and Michaela Schlegel

Third place in Towers – Joseph Hanshaw and Sydney Puerto-Meredith

Fourth place in Rocks and Minerals - Arielle Ippolito and Michaela Schlegel

Seventh place in Disease Detectives – Faith Morgan and Sydney Puerto-Meredith

Eighth place in Anatomy – Alex Mielcarek and Jack O'Malley

Eighth place in Mousetrap Vehicle – Joseph Hanshaw and Sydney Puerto-Meredith

Ninth place in Mission Possible – Katie Bruce, Derek Febo, and Evan Hendrickson

Ninth place in Water Quality – Megan Jackson and Juliette Smetana

10th place in Crime Busters – Kristy Blough and Megan Jackson

This is the fourth year that St. Mark has competed in the N.C. Science Olympiad and the second year qualifying to go to the state tournament. The team competed in the regional competition at UNC-Charlotte in March and was one of the six teams who placed high enough to qualify to advance to the state-level competition.

"We will never forget that first place finish at State," said parent coach Donna Ippolito of her daughter and her teammate's first-place finish. "It is a huge accomplishment and worth the many months of hard work."

— Amy Burger, special to the Catholic News Herald