Local Olympians impress

An Olympian is usually thought of as someone who can hurl a javelin or slide down a ski slope, depending on the season.

Over the weekend, a group of local students proved their Olympic might by, among other things, designing and building a contraption that uses the energy from a falling mass to convey a Grade A uncooked chicken egg along a straight track.

No, this didn't happen overnight at your local Denny's. It was among the events at the national Science Olympiad, held Friday and Saturday at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

This year, the Illinois delegation included South Middle School in Arlington Heights, Kennedy Junior High School in Lisle and Naperville Central High School.

And while none of them finished in the Top 10, they distinguished themselves in several categories.

South Middle School placed second in the "Balloon Launch Glider" category. It also had an impressive showing in 'The Scrambler," the aforementioned experiment with the egg.

Kennedy Junior High School took third-place honors in "Ecology" and sixth place in "Mystery Architecture."

Naperville Central High School posted a fourth-place finish with "Fermi Questions." It also finished third in "Physics Lab."

Kennedy Junior High School Coach Joe Cave, whose team finished 22nd out of 60 teams, said the tasks ranged from building things to paper-and-pencil assignments.

"It was just a remarkable experience for our kids," he said, adding that the group got to do a little sightseeing, visiting the Lincoln Memorial and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

He said the students, among the top achievers in the school, are interested in science and engineering.

Cave said his students included 8th graders Peter Lu, Stanley Yuan, Eric Spieglan and Andrew Ta.