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.

They won the national tournament in 1998 at Grand Valley State University in Michigan, beating out Ft. Collins High School and Troy High School that year. They were also placed 2nd in both 2003 at Ohio State University and 2008 at George Washington University. Solon High School has placed in the top 10 at the national tournament more than 10 times in their history.

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 the events; these tryouts primarily influence the first few schedules that are made. Most years, the Solon 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 around 15 plus 4-6 alternates, as only one team from a school can be taken to states.

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

Solon Invitational
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, including: (highest placing at nationals in parentheses)
 * Liberal Arts and Sciences Academy, TX (7th)
 * Mentor High School, OH (5th)

Some consider the competition at Solon Invitational as an extremely difficult tournament.

Results History
Solon has been a perennial contender for the Nationals title. Since 1995, Solon has qualified for nationals 14 out of 16 times. In fact, Solon has placed 1st once, 2nd twice, 3rd twice, 4th once, 5th twice, 7th thrice, 8th once, and 10th once. Here are the results since 1998:

A * indicates a State Record for lowest points ever in the state of Ohio.