Madison West High School
| Madison West High School | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | 30 Ash Street Madison, Wisconsin 53726 |
| State |  Wisconsin
|
| Region | South Central Regional |
| Map | Coordinates: 43°04′07″N 89°25′33″W / 43.068611°N 89.425833°W |
| Information | |
| Member of SO since | 1985 |
| Teams | 5 |
| Colors | Maize, Blue |
| Feeds from | Hamilton Middle School, Eagle School of Madison |
| Tournament Host | Badger Invitational |
| Results History | |
| Best regional |  2004-2020, 2023
|
| Best state | 1987, 1989, 1992-1993, 1995-1997, 2001-2007, 2010, 2012-2013, 2018-2019
|
| Best nationals |  1989
|
Madison West High School is a Division C school which usually competes in the South Central Regional of Wisconsin. Historically, the program has been very successful, with 19 Wisconsin state titles and 19 state runner-up finishes. The team has appeared at the national tournament 25 times, finishing in the top half of teams 22 times. Their best finish of 2nd came in 1989. Hamilton Middle School and parts of Eagle School of Madison are feeders to the school. The team is also cohost of Badger Invitational, along with Hamilton Middle School. West is the origin point of the famous cheeseheads at Nationals, which they bring to the swap meet whenever they attend.
West, being a founding member of Science Olympiad, is known as one of the longest-running nationally competitive teams in Science Olympiad. They have had a series of rivalries at their State Tournament, but have finished in the top two in 37 of the 38 State Tournaments they have competed in. Their rivals have included Neenah High School from 1985-1986, Washington Park High School from 1987-2000, Menomonie High School from 2001-2020, and Marquette University High School from 2021 to the present.
In 2024, West attended the National Tournament for the first time in five years, attaining a place of 13th—the team’s best performance since 1992. It also won the tournament’s Corteva Enterprise Award, given to the highest-ranked team outside the top ten places that had not attended the year before. Notable event places included 1st place in Flight, 1st place in Fermi Questions, and 2nd place in Experimental Design.
In 2025, West achieved its best State Tournament composite score of 41 since the low-score-wins method was adopted in 2009; it narrowly followed Marquette University High School’s first place score of 38. The team achieved no lower than 3rd place across all events. The school’s B team also achieved the lowest composite score of any B team at the state tournament (131), undercutting Marquette University High School’s B team by 100 points. The team went on to capture 7th place at the National Tournament, its fourth top-10 finish and first since 1991.
| Year | National | State | Regional |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 21st | 2nd | Wisconsin
did not have regional tournaments until 2004 |
| 1986 | 15th | 2nd | |
| 1987 | 15th | 1st | |
| 1988 | 22nd | 2nd (127) | |
| 1989 | 2nd | 1st (173) | |
| 1990 | 7th | 2nd (142) | |
| 1991 | 9th | 2nd (118) | |
| 1992 | 13th | 1st(168) | |
| 1993 | 19th | 1st (174) | |
| 1994 | - | 2nd (168) | |
| 1995 | 33rd | 1st (181) | |
| 1996 | 22nd | 1st (185) | |
| 1997 | 15th | 1st (173) | |
| 1998 | - | 2nd (152) | |
| 1999 | - | 2nd (136) | |
| 2000 | - | 2nd (156) | |
| 2001 | 21st | 1st (166) | |
| 2002 | 21st | 1st (193) | |
| 2003 | 26th | 1st (195) | |
| 2004 | 28th | 1st | 1st |
| 2005 | 22nd | 1st (179) | 1st |
| 2006 | 21st | 1st (179) | 1st |
| 2007 | 22nd | 1st (165) | 1st |
| 2008 | - | 2nd (155) | 1st |
| 2009 | - | 2nd (67) | 1st |
| 2010 | 25th | 1st (76) | 1st |
| 2011 | - | 2nd (119) | 1st |
| 2012 | 20th | 1st (54) | 1st |
| 2013 | 17th | 1st (78) | 1st |
| 2014 | - | 2nd (123) | 1st |
| 2015 | - | 2nd (69) | 1st |
| 2016 | - | 2nd (59) | 1st |
| 2017 | - | 3rd (152) | 1st |
| 2018 | 22nd | 1st (61) | 1st |
| 2019 | 20th | 1st (55) | 1st |
| 2020 | Cancelled (COVID-19) | 1st | |
| 2021 | - | 2nd (54) | Cancelled |
| 2022 | Did Not Compete | ||
| 2023 | - | 2nd (49) | 1st |
| 2024 | 13th | 2nd (72) | 2nd |
| 2025 | 7th | 2nd (41) | 5th |