Solon Middle School

Background
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, they are one of two schools that have been five-time repeat national champions in the B Division. Their website can be accessed here.

History
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. In 2011, Solon Middle School, along with Solon High School, placed first in the nation at University of Wisconsin, beating out Marie Murphy Middle School. In 2012, Solon Middle School, along with Solon High School, placed first in the nation at University of Central Florida, beating out Marie Murphy Middle School again with 200 pts.

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, maintaining close relations and supporting each other in terms of resources and motivation.

Team Setup
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) and some that had 31-32 students with no alternates, but instead used a rotation between the students to decide who was competing. 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. Annually, Solon holds their own invitational on the first Saturday of February. The Solon Invitational has been able to attract many powerhouse schools, including: (highest placing at nationals in parentheses) Some consider the competition at Solon Invitational as the second most difficult tournament, only behind the National Tournament.
 * J.C. Booth Middle School, GA (1st)
 * Marie Murphy Middle School, IL (2nd)
 * Shady Side Academy Middle School, PA (3rd)
 * Magsig Middle School, OH (3rd)
 * Bala Cynwyd Middle School, PA (4th)
 * Chardon Middle School, OH (5th)
 * Daniel Wright Middle School, OH (7th)
 * Meads Mill Middle School, OH (7th)
 * Piqua Junior High School, OH (6th) - Discontinued
 * Sewickley Academy, PA (6th) - Discontinued

Results History
Solon has been a perennial contender for the Nationals title.

Since 2004, Solon has qualified for nationals 7 out of the 8 years. Here are the results since 2004:

1: State Record for lowest points ever in the state of Ohio. 2: The Towers event was considered a Trial Event at the State Tournament. 3: National Record for lowest points ever at the National Tournament. 4: The Storm the Castle event was considered a Trial Event at the Regional Tournament.

Invitational Results:

In 2010, the Solon Middle School team attended the Lisle Invitational in Illinois.