South Carolina Science Olympiad

South Carolina Science Olympiad
AbbreviationSCSO
Formation1985; 40 years ago (1985)
Founded atNewberry, SC
TypeScience competition
HeadquartersThe Citadel, Charleston, South Carolina
State Director
Dr. Jennifer Albert
(since 2018)
Current Division B Champions
Clinton Middle School
(22nd title)
Current Division C Champions
Clinton High School
(13th title)
Parent organization
Science Olympiad
Websitewww.scscioly.org

The South Carolina Science Olympiad Competition, often abbreviated as SCSO, is an annual Science Olympiad competition comprising middle school and high school teams across South Carolina. The competition was first held in the C Division (grades 9–12) in 1985, with the inaugural state champions being Irmo High School from Irmo.[1] Bell Street Middle School from Clinton won the first B Division (grades 6–9) state championship a year later.[2] The winners of the tournament represent South Carolina at the Science Olympiad National Tournament, held in May at various universities across the nation.

The current state champions are Clinton Middle School and Clinton High School, who won their 22nd and 13th state championships, respectively, on March 2, 2024.

Dr. Jennifer Albert assumed the position of State Director for the 2019 season; she replaced Dr. Bret Clark.

History

Newberry was the host of the state competition from its start in 1985 to 2018.
The Citadel, in Charleston, has hosted the state competition since 2019.

The competition has been held every year since 1985 for Division C and since 1986 for Division B, with the exception of 2020, when the competition was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3][4]

Year Division B Champions Division C Champions Host
1985 — Irmo Newberry College
Newberry, SC
1986 Bell Street Irmo
1987 Bell Street Irmo
1988 Irmo Irmo
1989 Irmo Irmo
1990 Irmo Irmo
1991 Irmo Irmo
1992 Irmo Irmo
1993 Irmo Irmo
1994 Irmo Irmo
1995 Irmo Irmo
1996 Irmo Dutch Fork
1997 Irmo Dutch Fork
1998 Irmo Dutch Fork
1999 Dutch Fork Irmo
2000 Dutch Fork Irmo
2001 Dutch Fork Dutch Fork
2002 Dutch Fork Irmo
2003 Bell Street Irmo
2004 Bell Street Irmo
2005 Bell Street Irmo
2006 Bell Street Irmo
2007 Bell Street Irmo
2008 Bell Street Irmo
2009 Bell Street Clinton
2010 Bell Street Clinton
2011 Bell Street Clinton
2012 Bell Street Clinton
2013 Bell Street Clinton
2014 Bell Street Clinton
2015 Bell Street[5] Academic Magnet[6]
2016 Clinton[a] Clinton
2017 Clinton Clinton
2018 Clinton Clinton
2019 Clinton Academic Magnet The Citadel
Charleston, SC
2020 Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2021[b] GREEN Charter Clinton[8]
2022 Clinton Clinton[9]
2023 Clinton Clinton[10]
2024 Clinton Clinton

  Indicates team won the national tournament.

  1. ^ Changed name from Bell Street to Clinton prior to 2016 tournament.[7]
  2. ^ Competition was hosted by The Citadel but held virtually.

Statistics

State Championships by School

Division B
Rank School No. Years
1 Bell Street M.S./Clinton M.S. 22 1986, 1987, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024
2 Irmo M.S. 11 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998
3 Dutch Fork M.S. 4 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
4 GREEN Charter School 1 2021
Division C
Rank School No. Years
1 Irmo H.S. 20 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
2 Clinton H.S. 13 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
3 Dutch Fork H.S. 4 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001
4 Academic Magnet H.S. 2 2015, 2019

BOLD denotes a national championship.

Results

  • Score is calculated by giving 1 point for a first-place finish, 2 points for a second-place finish, etc.
  • In final events standings, (D) denotes defending champions.

2024 Competition

2023 Competition

The 2023 competition featured an amended slate of middle school events due to a lack of registered teams. The high school competition included the regular number of events. Both Division B and Division C competitions took place on April 1, 2023.

2022 Competition

Like the 2021 competition, the 2022 competition did not include regional competitions due to lingering uncertainties regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. The state competition marked a return to an in-person format and included the standard slate of 23 events. While the middle school tournament was initially scheduled for an earlier date, a lack of registered teams resulted in both the competitions for Division B and Division C taking place on April 2, 2022.

2021 Competition

The 2021 competition did not include regional competitions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The state competition was the first to be held virtually, and only included a selection of 12, test-only events. Many hands-on portions of some events were also cut. A trial competition was held on January 23, 2021, to test the virtual format, though only four events were run, and the results had no bearing on the actual competition. The state competition for Division C took place on March 20, 2021, and the competition for Division B took place a week later on March 27, 2021.

2019 Competition

The 2019 competition was the first to feature regional competitions; teams were able to compete in whichever regional they prefer but were only allowed to compete in one. Regional competitions were held on February 23, 2019, at Newberry College and March 2, 2019, at The Citadel. The state competition was held on March 16, 2019, at The Citadel.[11]

Newberry Regional

Citadel Regional

State Final

2018 Competition

2017 Competition

2016 Competition

2015 Competition

Both winners represented South Carolina at the 2015 Science Olympiad National Tournament, held at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Competition took place on May 15–16, 2015.[12]

2014 Competition

References

  1. ^ "Irmo High School". scioly.org. Science Olympiad. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  2. ^ "Bell Street Middle School". scioly.org. Science Olympiad. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  3. ^ "South Carolina Science Olympiad". newberry.edu. Newberry College. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  4. ^ "South Carolina". scioly.org. Science Olympiad. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  5. ^ http://www.golaurens.com/news/item/20096-bell-street-wins-13th-straight-s-c-science-olympiad Bell Street wins 13th straight Science Olympiad
  6. ^ http://www.golaurens.com/sports/item/20295-clinton-high-s-run-at-science-olympiad-state-titles-comes-to-an-end Clinton High School's Science Olympiad run comes to an end
  7. ^ http://scioly.org/wiki/index.php/Clinton_Middle_School Clinton Middle School (SC) Team Profile
  8. ^ "Clinton High Science Olympiad Team Takes State Title Again". March 30, 2021.
  9. ^ "CHS, CMS complete SC Science Olympiad sweep". April 5, 2022.
  10. ^ "Clinton Middle and Clinton High School Win State Science Olympiad at The Citadel". April 13, 2023.
  11. ^ "Coach's Corner". SC SCIENCE OLYMPIAD. Retrieved January 9, 2019.
  12. ^ "University of Nebraska 2015". scioly.org. Retrieved November 4, 2016.