Solon High School

Background
Solon High 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. Their team website can be accessed here. Currently, Solon claims six state titles and four national titles; Solon High School, along with Troy High School of California, are the only two high school teams that have won 3 consecutive titles.

History
Solon High School first won the national tournament in 1998 with 675 points (the old scoring system was implemented at the time) at Grand Valley State University in Michigan, beating out Fort Collins High School (651 pts) and Troy High School (649 pts) that year.

In 2011, along with Solon Middle School, Solon High School was able to win the national tournament for the second time at University of Wisconsin. With a score of 197 points, they edged out Centerville High School (203 pts) and West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South (235 pts). This is the first time since 1990 that a single school district won both Division B & C of the National Tournament. For their successes in 2011, the high school received a proclamation from the mayor, and a state resolution from the Ohio House of Representatives.

The following year, the team scored 1st at the 2012 National Science Olympiad Tournament at the University of Central Florida, their third Division C National Championship. They scored a record-low 158 pts, beating out Troy High School (186 pts) and Grand Haven High School (235 pts). They repeated as national champions along with Solon Middle School, the first this has happened since Irmo Middle School and Irmo High School repeated as national champions.

At the 2013 National Science Olympiad Tournament at Wright State University, Solon High School scored 178 points and repeated another first place finish with Solon Middle School. They beat out Harriton High School (246 pts) and Troy High School (248 pts). This was the first time in Science Olympiad history that the same school district has won both the Division B & Division C Science Olympiad National Tournaments for three consecutive years. Later the same year, Google Inc. named the city of Solon the digital capital of Ohio and conferred the 2013 eCITY award for Solon's "Science Olympiad-winning students" and its online business community.

They also placed 2nd in both 2003 at The Ohio State University and 2008 at George Washington University.

Currently, Solon High School holds the record for lowest points scored at a National Tournament (158 pts) and the record for lowest points scored at Ohio's State Tournament (52 pts).

Team Setup
Often, many students from Solon Middle School participate in the SO program at Solon High School. The middle school and high school teams interact on a consistent basis, maintaining close relations and supporting each other in terms of resources and motivation.

The high school team, unlike the middle school team, does not cut its students initially. However, they do have event tryouts in order to determine which students are strong in each event; these tryouts primarily influence who gets to go to the first invitational competitions. Most years, the Solon High School SO program has around 30-50 students participating. Solon usually takes two teams to Regionals and most invitational competitions. Eventually, that number is cut to 15 competitors plus around 4-6 alternates, as only one team from a school can be taken to states.

The high school team maintains a friendly relationship with Centerville High School, Mentor High School, Liberal Arts and Science Academy, Harriton High School, Penncrest High School, Fayetteville-Manlius High School, and New Trier High School.

Dispelling Common Misconceptions

 * Solon High School is a traditional public high school.
 * Solon High School does not have a class for Science Olympiad.
 * The team only conducts one after school meeting per week for 30 minutes; there are no set planned periods. Most work is done independently.
 * During the invitational season, Solon does not have a 1st or 2nd team; Solon does not 'stack' its teams during the invitational season.
 * There are at most two parent chaperons throughout the course of the season.
 * It is unusual for Solon to carry more than 6 alternates on a team.
 * Solon currently does not have any sponsors. If you would like to be a sponsor, please see our website.

Invitational Season
Because Solon High School regularly attends five or more invitationals, it often faces many teams that have been to nationals before.

The following are teams that Solon has competed against during the invitational season. Each team's best placing at nationals is in parentheses:
 * Centerville High School, OH (1st)
 * Harriton High School, PA (1st)
 * Fayetteville-Manlius High School, NY (1st)
 * Mentor High School, OH (5th)
 * New Trier High School, IL (5th)
 * Seven Lakes High School, TX (6th)
 * Liberal Arts and Science Academy, TX (7th)
 * Mounds View High School, MN (7th)
 * Adlai E. Stevenson High School, IL (9th)
 * Bloomington High School South, IN (11th)
 * Spackenkill High School, NY (14th)
 * Bayard Rustin High School, PA (14th)
 * duPont Manual High School, KY (19th)
 * Northmont High School, OH (19th)
 * Syosset High School, NY (20th)
 * Northridge High School, IN (21st)
 * Russell Independent High School, KY (22nd)
 * Adlai E. Stevenson High School, MI (24th)
 * Langley High School, VA (31st)
 * Merrimack High School, NH (38th)
 * Clinton High School, SC (43rd)
 * Fairfax High School, VA (43rd)
 * Archimedean Upper Conservatory, FL (46th)

These are the results for the invitational season:

Solon Invitational
The Solon Science Olympiad Invitational, which occurs every first Saturday of the month of February, attracts many teams. In 2013, 61 teams participated in this tournament. The invitational offers all 23 events and usually has 1-2 trial events.

Each event is run by one school, which writes the test or sets up the mechanical rubrics, and 1-2 schools assisting in that event. The first events start typically around 9:30 and end at roughly 2:30, with 10 minutes in between each event. Often times, in the auditorium, video games are set up to pass the time. The awards start anywhere from 3:00 to 4:30, and large medals are given for 1st through 3rd place, while small medals are given for 4th through 6th place.

In 2012, three Ohio state supervisors (Fermi Questions, Robot Arm, Sounds of Music) ran events at the Solon Invitational. In 2013, the Ohio state supervisor for Robot Arm and one of the National Forestry supervisors ran the respective events at the Solon Invitational. Solon competitors do not claim medals or trophies at this competition.

Part of Solon High School's success is due to the many invitationals it participates in. Solon has been able to attract many powerhouse schools to its invitational, including: (highest placing at nationals in parentheses)
 * Harriton High School, PA (1st)
 * Mentor High School, OH (5th)
 * New Trier High School, IL (5th)
 * Liberal Arts and Sciences Academy, TX (7th)
 * Bayard Rustin High School, PA (14th)
 * Northmont High School, OH (19th)

Some consider the competition at Solon Invitational as one of the most difficult invitational tournaments in the nation.

Results History
Solon has been a perennial contender for the Nationals title. Since 1995, Solon has only missed nationals twice, in 2007 and 2009. Here are the results since 1992:

1: National Record for lowest points ever scored at the National Tournament. 2: State Record for lowest points ever scored in the state of Ohio. 3: The Towers event was considered a Trial Event at the State Tournament.