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Solon Middle School

From Science Olympiad Student Center Event Wiki

Background

**Solon Middle School SO At a Glance**
Member of SO since	1987
Best finish, regionals	2010, 1st place (Most Recent Time)
Best finish, state	2010, 1st place (Most Recent Time)
Best finish, nationals	2010 1st place (Most Recent Time)

Solon Middle School, located in Ohio, is one of the most successful teams in the nation. They have placed consistently at the regional, state, and national level. Along with Booth Middle School and Irmo Middle School, they are one of three schools that have been three-time repeat national champions in the B Division.

They placed first at the national tournament held at George Washington University ahead of White Pines Middle School by one point. They also won the 2009 National Tournament at Augusta State University over ExCEL Homeschoolers by over 100 points. They recently won the 2010 National Tournament at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign over Arden Middle School by slightly over 20 points.

They feed into Solon High School, which has a highly successful team as well. The middle school and high school teams interact on a consistent basis, and the high school's recent success is partially because of the middle school.

In order to become a part of the middle school team, one must take a tryout test. Most years, 30 students qualify with around 5-7 alternates. There have been some years where the team has allowed 45 students (3 teams). Solon usually takes two teams to Regionals and most Invitational competitions. Eventually, that number is cut to around 15 plus 4-7 alternates, as only one team from a school can be taken to states.

Contrary to popular belief, Solon Middle School does NOT have a class for Science Olympiad.

Solon Invitational

Part of Solon Middle School's success is due to the many invitationals it participates in. Solon has been able to attract many powerhouse schools, including: (highest placing at nationals in parentheses)

J.C. Booth Middle School, GA (1st)
Shady Side Middle School, PA (3rd)
Sewickley Academy, PA (6th) - Discontinued
Bala Cynwyd Middle School, PA (4th)
Magsig Middle School, OH (3rd)
Chardon Middle School, OH (5th)
Piqua Junior High School, OH (6th) - Discontinued

Some consider the competition at Solon Invitational as the second most difficult tournament, only behind the National Tournament.

Results History

Solon has been a perennial contender for the Nationals title.

Year	Venue	Rank	Points
1997	Nationals	26th	?
	States	1st	?
	Regionals	?	?
1999	Nationals	11th	?
	States	2nd	?
	Regionals	?	?

Since 2004, Solon has qualified for nationals 6 out of the 7 times. Here are the results since 2004:

Year	Venue	Rank	Points
2004	Nationals	5th	312
	States	1st	?
	Regionals	1st/?	?
2005	Nationals	4th	349
	States	2nd	?
	Regionals	1st/?	?
2006	Nationals	3rd	305
	States	1st	?
	Regionals	1st/2nd	?
2007	Nationals	DNQ	-
	States	3rd	113
	Regionals	2nd/3rd	75
2008	Nationals	1st	249
	States	2nd	128
	Regionals	1st/3rd	63
2009	Nationals	1st	242
	States	1st	73*
	Regionals	1st/2nd	77
2010	Nationals	1st	246
	States	1st	88
	Regionals	1st/2nd	38