Lower Merion High School

Lower Merion High School
Location	315 E Montgomery Ave Ardmore, PA 19003
State	Pennsylvania
Region	Southeast North Pennsylvania
Map	Loading map...
Information
Member of SO since	1990s
Colors	Maroon,      White
Feeds from	Bala Cynwyd Middle School (and Welsh Valley Middle School)
School District	Lower Merion School District
Results History
Best regional	1st, 2019, 2021
Best state	1st, 2021
Best nationals	7th, 2003
Nationals Awards	DuPont Team Enterprise Award (2018)

Lower Merion High School is a C Division team that competes in the Southeast region of Pennsylvania. It has experienced major success in its history, placing first at states in 2021 and qualifying for nationals in 2003, 2018, 2021, and 2023.

At the 2018 National Tournament, Lower Merion received the DuPont Team Enterprise Award.

Team Info

Lower Merion High School is in the same school district as Harriton High School, Welsh Valley Middle School and Bala Cynwyd Middle School, and receives students primarily from Bala Cynwyd. The team is defined by a whimsical, democratic culture, featuring fun hashtags and occasionally Comic Sans, an "open" invitational scheduling philosophy, and a distinctive level of focus on first-year members.

Team History

Lower Merion first qualified for the Pennsylvania state tournament in 1996, after placing 8th at the Southeast regional. They have qualified for every state tournament since then. After a string of top-10 finishes at states in the late 1990s and early 2000s, they finally qualified for nationals in 2003, where they placed 7th.

Prior to 2021, Lower Merion Science Olympiad's head coach was Michael Stettner, with assistant coaches Kimberley Arleth and Patrick Cronin. Sadly, in February 2021, Mr. Stettner passed away. Despite the tremendous loss, the team went on to win their first ever state title. LM Scioly's new head coach is Andrew Samulewicz, with assistant coaches Donniell Cooke, Susan O'Bannon, and Sara Campbell.

Results

Year	Regionals	States	Nationals
1996	8th		XX
1997		6th (145)	XX
1998			XX
1999			XX
2000	2nd		XX
2001	2nd (133)	5th (216)	XX
2002	2nd (135)	7th (253)	XX
2003	2nd (116)	2nd (137)	7th (347)
2004	2nd (119)	3rd (144)	XX
2005	3rd (126)	3rd (211)	XX
2006	3rd (140)	5th (247)	XX
2007	4th (145)	4th (189)	XX
2008	4th (143)	4th (204)	XX
2009	6th (186)	9th (321)	XX
2010	6th (191)	7th (286)	XX
2011	7th (190)	8th (310)	XX
2012	6th (152)	6th (201)	XX
2013	5th (149)	6th (256)	XX
2014	7th (206)	17th (416)	XX
2015	7th (198)	6th (240)	XX
2016	5th (146)	6th (253)	XX
2017	4th (131)	3rd (157)	XX
2018	2nd (80)	2nd (102)	15th (413)
2019	1st (63)	3rd (112)	XX
2020	Cancelled due to the 2019-20 Coronavirus outbreak
2021	1st (52)	1st (46)	13th (285)
2022	2nd (94)	4th (154)	XX
2023	2nd (68)	2nd (85)	14th (417)
2024	2nd (76)	3rd (121)	XX
2025	2nd (63)	3rd (112)	XX

Invitational Results

Early Invitational Results

Invitational	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
Solon	1st	1st	3rd	1st
Conestoga								22nd (406)

Recent Invitational Results

Invitational	2025	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015
Conestoga	9th (305)	11th/15th (341/366)			9th/11th (303/355)	3rd/5th (234/253)	5th/6th (217/282)	6th (303)	15th (417)	8th (351)
SOUP		9th/34th (295/732)	12th/48th (487/1051)	5th/61st (344/1078)	7th (307)	5th/29th (252/610)	18th/24th (454/541)	8th/29th (248/568)
LISO					23rd (496)	6th/18th (299/360)	2nd/10th (132/237)	7th (238)
Princeton	1st/23rd (166/565)		11th/14th (306/318)	6th (265)	13th/19th (393/464)	6th/17th (327/425)	4th/30th (255/636)
MC Barons					3rd/4th (141/176)	2nd/4th (122/195)	1st/6th (122/234)
Cornell	9th/18th (370/538)	6th/7th (247/262)	12th/16th (320/375)		8th/9th (340/350)				6th (206)
UT Austin				10th/28th (321/466)
Solon			13th (307)	11th (460)
MIT		15th (390)		41st/46th (835/882)
Harvard-Brown				10th (309)
Duke				8th (331)
SOAPS	2nd/8th (106/230)	12th/13th (310/313)		6th/9th (223/253)
BirdSO Satellite			22nd/77th (935/2081)
BirdSO Mini			20th/38th (744/924)

2012 Event Places 2012 Event Places Event Regionals States Anatomy & Physiology 8th 2nd Astronomy 11th 10th Chemistry Lab 8th 16th Disease Detectives 7th 4th Dynamic Planet 3rd 13th Experimental Design 1st 4th Fermi Questions 2nd 3rd Forensics 5th 5th Forestry 7th 8th Gravity Vehicle 4th 12th Helicopters 2nd 7th Microbe Mission 6th 3rd Optics 13th 20th Remote Sensing 14th 8th Robot Arm 3rd 8th Rocks and Minerals 4th 8th Protein Modeling 14th 3rd Sounds of Music 3rd 27th Thermodynamics 10th 4th Technical Problem Solving 21st 7th Towers 6th 7th Water Quality 1st 4th Write It Do It 11th 18th

2013 Event Places 2013 Event Places Event Regionals States Anatomy & Physiology 6th 19th Astronomy 8th 22nd Boomilever 8th 7th Chemistry Lab 5th 21st Circuit Lab 11th 18th Designer Genes 4th 13th Disease Detectives 13th 7th Dynamic Planet 7th 2nd Elastic Launch Glider 2nd 2nd Experimental Design 3rd 3rd Fermi Questions 11th 15th Forensics 5th 8th Forestry 10th 5th Gravity Vehicle 4th 11th Mag Lev 11th 10th Materials Science 5th 4th Remote Sensing 6th 9th Robot Arm 12th 14th Rocks and Minerals 1st 2nd Technical Problem Solving 7th 16th Thermodynamics 4th 22nd Water Quality 2nd 7th Write It Do It 4th 21st

2014 Event Places 2014 Event Places Event Regionals States Anatomy & Physiology 4th 7th Astronomy 8th 12th Boomilever 11th 25th Bungee Drop 7th 10th Chemistry Lab 26th 15th Circuit Lab 10th 13th Compound Machines 10th 20th Designer Genes 7th 23rd Disease Detectives 4th 11th Dynamic Planet 8th 11th Elastic Launch Glider 11th 32nd Entomology 6th 27th Experimental Design 6th 28th Forensics 4th 8th Geologic Mapping 8th 15th Mag Lev 21st 30th Materials Science 8th 22nd Mission Possible 4th 13th Rocks and Minerals 14th 29th Scrambler 5th 32nd Technical Problem Solving 13th 7th Water Quality 7th 7th Write It Do It 4th 19th

2015 Event Places 2015 Event Places Event Conestoga Regionals States Air Trajectory 24th 6th 6th Anatomy & Physiology 9th 16th 12th Astronomy 11th 6th 8th Bridge Building 20th 5th 9th Bungee Drop 17th 32nd 5th Cell Biology 22nd 7th 16th Chemistry Lab 13th 4th 9th Compound Machines 19th 16th 29th Disease Detectives 3rd 5th 12th Dynamic Planet 7th 5th 13th Entomology 13th 15th 7th Experimental Design 11th 2nd 8th Forensics 12th 1st 8th Fossils 18th 5th 8th Geologic Mapping 16th 5th 10th Green Generation 7th 6th 2nd It's About Time 23rd 4th 10th Mission Possible 17th 14th 15th Protein Modeling 22nd 11th 9th Scrambler 14th 7th 13th Technical Problem Solving 11th 8th N/A Wright Stuff 28th 13th 5th Write It Do It 14th 5th 26th

2016 Event Places 2016 Event Places Event Conestoga Cornell Regionals States Air Trajectory 6th 1st 2nd 2nd Anatomy & Physiology 15th 9th 6th 11th Astronomy 30th 9th 4th 9th Bridge Building 4th 4th 1st 4th Cell Biology 12th 10th 15th 8th Chemistry Lab 20th 8th 9th 5th Disease Detectives 11th 4th 7th 19th Dynamic Planet 17th 7th 3rd 5th Electric Vehicle 11th 16th 5th 15th Experimental Design 8th 2nd 6th 17th Forensics 27th 3rd 5th 25th Fossils 12th 7th 6th 10th Game On 22nd 13th 4th 5th Geologic Mapping 7th 2nd 7th 6th Green Generation 25th 7th 5th 1st Hydrogeology 12th 3rd 2nd 5th Invasive Species 25th 9th 3rd 2nd It's About Time 22nd 14th 5th 15th Robot Arm 22nd 23rd 12th 27th Protein Modeling 22nd 11th 9th 23rd Wind Power 27th 12th 8th 18th Wright Stuff 26th 18th 2nd 6th Write It Do It 34th 14th 20th 15th

2017 Event Places 2017 Event Places Event Islip Conestoga Tiger Penn* Regionals States Anatomy & Physiology 47th 11th 14th 16th 3rd 6th Astronomy 14th 3rd 5th 9th 10th 3rd Chemistry Lab 9th 15th 5th 6th 4th 4th Disease Detectives 14th 17th 14th 5th 6th 4th Dynamic Planet 10th 33rd 10th 13th 5th 4th Ecology 12th 10th 3rd 3rd 3rd 1st Electric Vehicle 13th 17th 5th 27th 2nd 17th Experimental Design 21st 6th 2nd 8th 7th 19th Forensics 16th 10th 11th 10th 4th 9th Game On 3rd 8th 5th 9th 2nd 4th Helicopters 31st 4th 9th 9th 6th 8th Hovercraft 14th 2nd 3rd 5th 4th 8th Hydrogeology 1st 9th 2nd 5th 2nd 5th Invasive Species 1st 5th 6th 4th 3rd 4th Materials Science 12th 19th 9th 26th 5th 9th Microbe Mission 21st 16th 13th 11th 8th 6th Optics 14th 7th 3rd 15th 4th 2nd Remote Sensing 2nd 2nd 5th 1st 3rd 2nd Robot Arm 15th 25th 19th 16th 9th 8th Rocks and Minerals 8th 2nd 8th 16th 3rd 1st Towers 12th 17th 8th 18th 7th 9th Wind Power 20th 29th 13th 6th 4th 1st Write It Do It 21st 26th 36th 14th 27th 23rd Only the best score from two teams is shown

2018 Event Places 2018 Event Places Event Islip Conestoga* MC Barons* Princeton* Penn* Regionals States Nationals Anatomy & Physiology 4th 8th 2nd 5th 17th 4th 3rd 8th Astronomy 3rd 9th 1st 3rd 5th 4th 4th 13th Chemistry Lab 16th 18th 2nd 5th 7th 5th 5th 24th Disease Detectives 8th 1st 3rd 10th 10th 8th 1st 18th Dynamic Planet 3rd 4th 1st 12th 22nd 2nd 2nd 19th Ecology 3rd 1st 1st 2nd 12th 2nd 3rd 26th Experimental Design 1st 1st 1st 1st 3rd 1st 13th 1st Fermi Questions 8th 2nd 1st 18th 14th 8th 2nd 2nd Forensics 7th 5th 1st 11th 18th 7th 6th 9th Game On 1st 2nd 1st 5th 4th 3rd 3rd 10th Helicopters 20th 20th 1st 11th 12th 4th 2nd 14th Herpetology 2nd 2nd 1st 5th 3rd 1st 2nd 10th Hovercraft 4th 3rd 8th 13th 10th 4th 12th 35th Materials Science 5th 10th 3rd 15th 8th 4th 4th 19th Microbe Mission 3rd 4th 1st 8th 16th 1st 2nd 16th Mission Possible 2nd 21st 18th 8th 13th 3rd 4th 26th Mousetrap Vehicle 13th 27th 27th 13th 12th 5th 4th 35th Optics 17th 1st 3rd 9th 13th 2nd 7th 33rd Remote Sensing 1st 1st 1st 1st 15th 3rd 1st 28th Rocks and Minerals 2nd 1st 1st 2nd 5th 1st 1st 11th Thermodynamics 5th 14th 3rd 11th 20th 2nd 10th 16th Towers 22nd 15th 3rd 24th 17th 5th 6th 32nd Write It Do It 9th 4th 13th 12th 1st 1st 5th 8th Only the best score from two teams is shown

2019 Event Places 2019 Event Places Event LISO* Conestoga* MC Barons* Princeton* Penn* Regionals States Anatomy & Physiology 12th 5th 7th 8th 12th 5th 2nd Astronomy 18th 2nd 1st 5th 3rd 1st 1st Boomilever 15th 22nd 5th 7th 17th 4th 14th Chemistry Lab 26th 7th 6th 9th 7th 1st 7th Circuit Lab 12th 2nd 1st 7th 5th 1st 5th Codebusters 1st 2nd 1st 1st 2nd 1st 2nd Designer Genes 15th 7th 1st 23rd 5th 8th 1st Disease Detectives 2nd 4th 1st 8th 13th 2nd 11th Dynamic Planet 4th 8th 2nd 5th 3rd 1st 3rd Experimental Design 2nd 3rd 1st 1st 4th 3rd 9th Fermi Questions 9th 2nd 1st 1st 4th 6th 1st Forensics 2nd 2nd 1st 2nd 10th 4th 2nd Fossils 9th 2nd 2nd 5th 9th 3rd 1st Geologic Mapping 15th 3rd 1st 2nd 12th 2nd 1st Herpetology 1st 2nd 1st 5th 5th 2nd 6th Mission Possible 13th 3rd 12th 16th 11th 1st 4th Mousetrap Vehicle 36th 34th 11th 4th 19th 2nd 3rd Protein Modeling 30th 1st 4th 9th 14th 1st 8th Sounds of Music 18th 1st 2nd 7th 3rd 1st 11th Thermodynamics 16th 8th 2nd 11th 16th 4th 3rd Water Quality 4th 4th 2nd 3rd 13th 6th 2nd Wright Stuff 12th 3rd 8th 25th 30th 3rd 8th Write It Do It 14th 20th 1st 1st 21st 1st 7th Only the best score from two teams is shown

2020 Event Places 2020 Event Places Event Cornell* LISO Conestoga* MC Barons* Princeton* Penn Anatomy & Physiology 12th 28th 12th 8th 12th 30th Astronomy 5th 13th 7th 1st 6th 8th Boomilever 28th 30th 14th 6th 22nd 32nd Chemistry Lab 14th 39th 16th 2nd 2nd 2nd Circuit Lab 9th 70th 3rd 9th 5th 4th Codebusters 1st 63rd 2nd 1st 2nd 12th Designer Genes 2nd 20th 4th 3rd 12th 5th Detector Building 12th 42nd 2nd 5th 1st 15th Disease Detectives 4th 7th 12th 3rd 9th 15th Dynamic Planet 7th 40th 11th 6th 14th 17th Experimental Design 5th 7th 3rd 1st 2nd 10th Forensics 3rd 29th 3rd 3rd 4th 4th Fossils 2nd 5th 5th 1st 6th 12th Geologic Mapping 13th 38th 13th 1st 3rd 8th Gravity Vehicle 16th 25th 2nd 29th 11th 33rd Machines 1st 6th 7th 3rd 13th 25th Ornithology 1st 6th 3rd 1st 4th 1st Ping Pong Parachute 7th 26th 7th 1st 7th 14th Protein Modeling 2nd 54th 5th 4th 17th 9th Sounds of Music 7th 36th 15th 2nd 31st 23rd Water Quality 3rd 21st 3rd 1st 19th 9th Wright Stuff 34th 47th 22nd 9th 17th 38th Write It Do It 24th 31st 10th 3rd 5th 14th Only the best score from two teams is shown

2021 Event Places 2021 Event Places Event UT Austin Solon Harvard-Brown Regionals States Anatomy & Physiology 46th 59th 56th 2nd 1st Astronomy 13th 11th 24th 2nd 1st Boomilever -- -- -- -- -- Chemistry Lab 3rd 2nd 21st 4th 2nd Circuit Lab 5th 1st 2nd 2nd 2nd Codebusters 25th 24th 12th 1st 2nd Designer Genes 14th 12th 31st 2nd 1st Detector Building 3rd 8th -- 1st 1st Digital Structures -- 36th -- -- -- Disease Detectives 28th 16th 16th 5th 3rd Dynamic Planet 12th 21st 2nd 3rd 8th Experimental Design -- 23rd -- 1st 3rd Forensics 17th 7th 9th 1st 1st Fossils 15th 17th 12th 3rd 9th Geologic Mapping 23rd 79th 59th 5th 5th Gravity Vehicle -- 35th -- -- 10th Machines 23rd 23rd 25th 3rd 1st Ornithology 22nd 71st 12th 8th 2nd Ping Pong Parachute -- -- -- -- -- Protein Modeling 14th 9th 8th 5th 1st Sounds of Music 10th 16th 18th 2nd 1st Water Quality 32nd 1st 2nd 2nd 2nd Wright Stuff -- -- -- -- -- Write It CAD It -- 24th -- -- -- Only the best score from two teams is shown "--" indicates that either the event was not run at that competition or Lower Merion did not participate (most likely due to our inability to test builds)

2024 Event Places 2024 Event Places Event Cornell BVF SOAPS Princeton Regionals States Air Trajectory 1st 9th 5th 14th 2nd Anatomy 4th 8th 19th 7th 1st Astronomy 8th 4th 17th (TD) 8th 4th Chemistry Lab 12th 9th 8th 21st 5th Codebusters 10th 6th 8th 3rd 3rd Detector Building 8th 4th 3rd 1st 6th Disease Detectives 2nd 13th 2nd 3rd 1st Dynamic Planet 5th 10th 3rd 6th 1st Ecology 4th 9th 9th 4th 2nd Experimental Design 3rd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd Fermi Questions 4th 4th 3rd 7th 6th Flight 7th 4th 2nd 3rd 3rd Forensics 23rd 6th 19th 6th 2nd Forestry 4th 2nd 3rd (TD) 3rd 4th Fossils 7th 3rd 8th 4th 2nd Geologic Mapping 4th 4th 1st 3rd 1st Microbe Mission 4th 8th 9th 17th 2nd Optics 3rd 7th 7th 17th 2nd Robot Tour 22nd 5th 9th 3rd 6th Scrambler 38th 34th 24th 9th 2nd Tower 2nd 5th 2nd 1st 1st Wind Power 22nd 15th 3rd 4th 2nd Write It Do It 25th 7th 5th 1st 16th Only the best score from two teams is shown "--" indicates that either the event was not run at that competition or Lower Merion did not participate (most likely due to our inability to test builds)