Los Alamos High School regional winners, left to Right: Willie Zhao, Aaron Bao, Kevin Gao, Alex Swart, Alex Wang and their coach, Kathy Boerigter. (Image courtesy of Sandia National Laboratories.) Click on the thumbnail for a high-resolution image.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Students from Los Alamos High School will represent New Mexico at the Department of Energy’s National Science Bowl in April. The team took first place on Saturday, Feb. 16, at the New Mexico Regional High School Competition after besting 28 teams representing 14 New Mexican high schools.

Students answered questions related to astronomy, biology, chemistry, earth science, physics, math, trigonometry and calculus during the fast-paced, 10-hour, “Jeopardy” style competition. The winning team will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to compete against top teams across the nation in late April.

The students representing Los Alamos are Willie Zhao, Aaron Bao, Alex Wang, Alex Swart and team captain Kevin Gao, coached by Kathy Boerigter. Second place was Albuquerque Academy and La Cueva High School took the third spot.

Sandia National Laboratories coordinates the annual regional competition for DOE’s Office of Science. DOE created the National Science Bowl in 1991 to encourage students to excel in math and science and pursue careers in related fields. More than 200,000 students have participated in the National Science Bowl in the 23 years since its inception.

Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin company, for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration. With main facilities in Albuquerque, N.M., and Livermore, Calif., Sandia has major R&D responsibilities in national security, energy and environmental technologies and economic competitiveness.

Sandia news media contact: Stephanie Hobby, (505) 280-3905, shobby@sandia.gov