Central East Pennsylvania Regional
| Central East Pennsylvania Regional | |
|---|---|
| General Information | |
| Map | |
| Location | Kutztown University |
| State |  Pennsylvania
|
| Member of SO Since | 1999 |
| Total teams | 8 B, 28 C |
| Division B Champion | Springhouse Middle School |
| Division C Champion | Parkland High School |
| Date | March 20, 2025 |
| Website | [1] |
The Central East Pennsylvania Regional is currently held at Kutztown University. As of the 2024-25 season, it consists of Berks, Chester, Lehigh, Northampton, Northumberland, and Schuylkill counties, as well as northwestern portions of Bucks and Montgomery counties.
History
The Central East Regional began competing in 1999, when it broke off from the Northeast Pennsylvania Regional (Lehigh Valley teams) and the Southeast Pennsylvania Regional (Reading area teams). Since then, it has routinely produced competitive teams at the state level.
Early Years
When the region started, it was quickly dominated in both divisions by teams from Kutztown and Fleetwood. From 1999 to 2007, the only team not from either of these two school districts to win the regional title was Liberty High School in the inaugural tournament. Kutztown and Fleetwood's teams regularly finished in the top 10 at the state tournament, peaking with Fleetwood Area High School's 3rd-place finish at the 2002 Pennsylvania State Tournament, who only missed nationals qualification by a tiebreaker. To this day, no high school team from the Central East region has matched or eclipsed this mark.
Transition
The period from 2008 to 2013 was one of transition within the region. In Division B, Whitehall-Coplay Middle School claimed four out of the six regional championships, though their best showing at the state tournament was a fourth-place finish in 2011, one of the two years in which they placed second (both times to Fleetwood Area Middle School). In Division C, five different schools won the title during these six seasons, with Fleetwood being the only team to win twice.
In addition to being a transition in power between teams, this period also saw a transition in the host university. Moravian College, who had hosted the regional since its inception in 1999 (and also hosted the Eastern Regional in the late 1980s and early 1990s), hosted for the final time in 2009. From 2010 onward, the regional has been hosted by Kutztown University.
In 2011, Perkiomen Valley High School began competing in this region rather than the Southeast region, adding another strong contender to the region. They regularly finished in the top 10 at the state tournament, and won regional championships in 2013 and 2016. The final year in which they would compete in the region was 2019.
Recent Years
In 2014, Springhouse Middle School became the first team from the region to qualify for the national tournament, and they have dominated the region since then. They have won seven consecutive regional titles, all by over 30 points, and likely would have won more if not for the region's hiatus from 2020 to 2023.
Springhouse's high school, Parkland High School, has also had moderate success within the region during this time, winning two regional championships, but they are eclipsed within the region by Northwestern Lehigh High School, which has six regional championships since their first win in 2014.
In 2024, it was announced that schools from Chester County would begin competing in the Central East region starting with the 2024-25 season. This has the potential for significant impact to the region's Division C tournaments going forward, as Chester County boasts several successful teams, most notably Bayard Rustin High School.
Impact of COVID-19
In 2020, the B Division event was initially cancelled due to a lack of registered teams, with most of the remaining teams subsequently registering for the Northeast regional tournament. However, both regionals were subsequently cancelled due to the 2019-20 Coronavirus outbreak.
In 2021, due to ongoing recovery from COVID-19, teams from Division B competed in the temporary East Regional with teams from Northeast and Southeast regionals. Teams from Division C were distributed into the Northeast Pennsylvania Regional and the Central Pennsylvania Regional to create two evenly-sized regional tournaments.
In 2022, the Central East region resumed annually for C Division. The B Division competition was not resumed until 2024, due to lower numbers.
Past Regional Champions
This is a record of the past Regionals champions and runners up, and their respective places at the state competition. Scores at the regional competition may be shown in parentheses.
- 1 East Hills Middle School tied for third place with 130 points, but lost the gold medal tiebreaker.
- 2 These placements represent the relative placements of Central East Regional teams based on the results of the combined East Regional. See Southeast Pennsylvania Regional for full East Regional results.
- 3 Whitehall-Coplay Middle School did not compete at the 2024 Pennsylvania State Tournament. E.N. Peirce Middle School competed in their place, finishing 34th with 611 points.
- 1 Indicates that the team won a medal tiebreaker.
- 2 These placements represent the relative placements of Central East Regional teams based on statewide regional results. See Central Pennsylvania Regional and Northeast Pennsylvania Regional for full regional results.
- 3 Due to a violation of Pennsylvania Science Olympiad policies, Parkland High School's performance at the 2025 regional was retroactively vacated. Originally, Parkland placed first with 64 points, Bayard Rustin High School placed second with 100 points, and West Chester East High School placed third with 118 (defeating Conestoga High School in a gold medal tiebreaker, 3-2).
Past Scores
- 2002 B (Not Available)/C
- 2003 B/C
- 2004 B/C
- 2005 B/C
- 2006 B/C
- 2007 B/C
- 2008 B/C (Not Available)
- 2009 B/C
- 2010 B/C
- 2011 B/C
- 2012 B/C
- 2013 B/C
- 2014 B/C
- 2015 B/C
- 2016 B/C
- 2017 B/C
- 2018 B/C
- 2019 B/C
- 2022 C
- 2023 C
- 2024 B/C
- 2025 B /C
Active Teams
NOTE: This is a list of all teams that registered for the 2025 version of this regional. For a more complete list of all teams that have competed in this regional, please see Pennsylvania#Teams.
Division B
Division C
- Allentown Central Catholic High School
- Antietam Senior High School
- B. Reed Henderson High School
- Bayard Rustin High School
- Boyertown Area Senior High School
- Conestoga High School
- Daniel Boone Area High School
- Downingtown STEM Academy
- Emmaus High School
- Exeter Township Senior High School
- Fleetwood Area High School
- Great Valley High School
- Hamburg Area High School
- Kutztown Area High School
- Liberty High School
- Nazareth Area High School
- Northampton Area High School
- Northwestern Lehigh High School
- Parkland High School
- Perkiomen School
- Schuylkill Valley High School
- Tulpehocken Senior High School
- Twin Valley High School
- Unionville High School
- West Chester East High School
- Whitehall High School
- Wilson High School
- Wyoming Seminary Upper School
External Links
Central East Regional Competition Website
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