Unofficial Rankings, Division B

[sr243]

hmm, I still Solon will be the favorite. The main thing is they are so consistent in all their events. Their best strength is that they don't have a real "weak event" that drags down the team. Last year, their worst event was forestry 34th at nats (which they got 1st at states this year). Then they had 2 events in the 20s and 5 events in the teens. That means they had 15 single digits events. Their overall score was 200 (62 points over 2nd) which is an avg score of 8.7 which is amazing at nationals. I honestly don't know any other team that will be that consistent at nationals. http://www.soinc.org/sites/default/file ... Master.pdf

Churchill has some weaknesses shown in their state tournament like Mission Possible (10th), Food science (10th) and WIDI (8th) out of 24 teams. Also some questionable 7th in Experimental design and crime busters. Anyways, unless they drastically improve in those events, they won't have a chance and will be a repeat of last year. http://www.norcalscienceolympiad.com/20 ... 20Rank.pdf

Daniel Wright also has a big problem in WIDI. 37th at states is very bad. Otherwise a 10th in crime busters and 11th experimental design also needs some work. Otherwise they are good. They might have a chance if they improve their events which were half the points at states. For Marie Murphy, they got 34th in metric mastery and 14th in WIDI. 7th in experimental design and 5th in rotor egg drop could also use some improvements. Once again, those couple events were half their points at states. I think these two teams could do it but WIDI and Metric Mastery are not simple events to improve. They haven't improved since regionals and invitationals which were 2 months before states. I hope they can take down Solon but they really need to focus on those events.
http://avogadro.ws/hosted/il-state-b/public/results

However, the favorite is still Solon especially after states. 51 points is ridiculously low (avg 2.2 in each event). They had 20 events in the top 3 at states. The only 3 events that didn't were Metric Mastery (4th), Road scholar and Rocks&minerals (both 6th). Road scholar and R&M are easy events to improve. They got 1st in WIDI which is a problematic event for every other team. Unless they mess up in a few of these "lab events" (WIDI, Metric Mastery), they will do just as well as last year if not better. https://www.dropbox.com/s/kt8vix4wny02e ... esults.pdf

TLDR: The team scores of Science Olympiad is not about how well you can do in certain events but how well your worst events are. I think Solon's worst events are better than the other teams' worst events so I still favorite them at nationals.

[death_owl]

Ha; everyone's after the first place spot, really. Unless they don't care. I think this is the year that the Solon winning streak shall be broken. I predict that it will be done by Churchill.

hmm..why by Churchill?

[DivineBbbbbeast]

hmm, I still Solon will be the favorite. The main thing is they are so consistent in all their events. Their best strength is that they don't have a real "weak event" that drags down the team. Last year, their worst event was forestry 34th at nats (which they got 1st at states this year). Then they had 2 events in the 20s and 5 events in the teens. That means they had 15 single digits events. Their overall score was 200 (62 points over 2nd) which is an avg score of 8.7 which is amazing at nationals. I honestly don't know any other team that will be that consistent at nationals. http://www.soinc.org/sites/default/file ... Master.pdf

Churchill has some weaknesses shown in their state tournament like Mission Possible (10th), Food science (10th) and WIDI (8th) out of 24 teams. Also some questionable 7th in Experimental design and crime busters. Anyways, unless they drastically improve in those events, they won't have a chance and will be a repeat of last year. http://www.norcalscienceolympiad.com/20 ... 20Rank.pdf

Daniel Wright also has a big problem in WIDI. 37th at states is very bad. Otherwise a 10th in crime busters and 11th experimental design also needs some work. Otherwise they are good. They might have a chance if they improve their events which were half the points at states. For Marie Murphy, they got 34th in metric mastery and 14th in WIDI. 7th in experimental design and 5th in rotor egg drop could also use some improvements. Once again, those couple events were half their points at states. I think these two teams could do it but WIDI and Metric Mastery are not simple events to improve. They haven't improved since regionals and invitationals which were 2 months before states. I hope they can take down Solon but they really need to focus on those events.
http://avogadro.ws/hosted/il-state-b/public/results

However, the favorite is still Solon especially after states. 51 points is ridiculously low (avg 2.2 in each event). They had 20 events in the top 3 at states. The only 3 events that didn't were Metric Mastery (4th), Road scholar and Rocks&minerals (both 6th). Road scholar and R&M are easy events to improve. They got 1st in WIDI which is a problematic event for every other team. Unless they mess up in a few of these "lab events" (WIDI, Metric Mastery), they will do just as well as last year if not better. https://www.dropbox.com/s/kt8vix4wny02e ... esults.pdf

TLDR: The team scores of Science Olympiad is not about how well you can do in certain events but how well your worst events are. I think Solon's worst events are better than the other teams' worst events so I still favorite them at nationals.

I agree with the fact that it'll come down to which team is the most efficient. Although it's quite possible that Solon will lose, I don't think that it'll happen this year. After struggling with mechanical bombs throughout the invitational season, the fact that they can medal in mousetrap vehicle and rotor egg drop signifies that there is rapid improvement in all their events. Also, the fact that they perform so consistently in most of their events, allows them to afford 1 or 2 bombs ( forestry last yr) and still win by a sizeable gap. I don't know if the other teams will have such breathing room. If I would pick a team for an upset though, I'd have to go with Daniel Wright. After talking with their coach last year, it was obvious that the team is very serious about Science Olympiad and very motivated to improve. Their motivation has helped them surpass Marie Murphy, and it's quite possible that they can beat out Solon. Churchill might be good, but I still don't think they can top the Midwest teams especially if they're getting 10th out of only 24 teams in multiple events.

[Vader_]

A lot of people are underestimating Booth, Meads Mill and Shady Side. I dont understand why Winston Churchill.

[caseyotis]

Ha; everyone's after the first place spot, really. Unless they don't care. I think this is the year that the Solon winning streak shall be broken. I predict that it will be done by Churchill.

hmm..why by Churchill?

Actually, after doing some research, I take that back. I'm thinking Meads Mill now.

[silverheart7]

I feel like a ranking of Gelinas in the top ten is achievable. We've had a good season this year comparatively. However, I do not believe we could unseat one of the bigger 'powerhouse' teams. I think realistically, the win could go to a handful of teams. Solon, of course, is one of the favorites. Daniel Wright, Marie Murphy, Meads Mill and Winston Churchill are all in a tight race for the gold. It's going to be interesting to see who comes out on top!

My Rankings:
1. Solon
2. Daniel Wright
3. Winston Churchill
5. Marie Murphy
5. Meads Mill
6. Booth
7. Beckondorff
8. Paul J. Gelinas
9. Mentor Memorial
10. Shady Side

[Vader_]

My Rankings:
1. Solon
2. Daniel Wright
3. Marie Murphy
3. Meads Mill
5. Booth
5. Winston Churchill
7. Shady Side
8. Paul J. Gelinas
9. Mentor Memorial
10. Beckondorff

[mwloveslm]

THIS IS SO INTENSE

[sr243]

I feel like a ranking of Gelinas in the top ten is achievable. We've had a good season this year comparatively. However, I do not believe we could unseat one of the bigger 'powerhouse' teams. I think realistically, the win could go to a handful of teams. Solon, of course, is one of the favorites. Daniel Wright, Marie Murphy, Meads Mill and Winston Churchill are all in a tight race for the gold. It's going to be interesting to see who comes out on top!

My Rankings:
1. Solon
2. Daniel Wright
3. Winston Churchill
5. Marie Murphy
5. Meads Mill
6. Booth
7. Beckondorff
8. Paul J. Gelinas
9. Mentor Memorial
10. Shady Side

I have a question for you since you are in Gelinas, how are your "not so well" events going? Metric mastery (25th) WIDI (10th) Experimental Design (10th) and Mission Possible (10th). It seems like Gelinas has some really great events that medal at nationals and some not so great events that cost the team the top ten. Last year, it was experimental design and bottle rocket. This year, it might be metric mastery and something else. Certainly, the team was within one event of top ten but so were many other teams. If you want to be in the top ten, focus on your worst events and make sure you don't have an event that might place over 40. Two 20th are better than 1st and 50th for the team score.

[mrburrito]

Poor Booth must be sitting there reading this like they're Bad Luck Brian, they have a good chance of winning nationals too.