Colorado school wins 17th Science Bowl

WASHINGTON, May 1 (UPI) -- Poudre High School in Fort Collins, Colo., won the U.S. Department of Energy's 17th annual National Science Bowl.

Poudre defeated State College Area High School from State College, Pa., in Monday's national championship match. Teams representing 64 high schools from across the United States competed in the finals.

Members of the winning team included Patrick Chaffey, Sam Elder, Winston Gao, Sam Sun, Logan Wright and coach Jack Lundt. The team won a science research trip to Australia.

More than 300 high school students competed in the national finals. More than 12,000 students from across the nation participated in regional Science Bowl competitions.

The event was created in 1991 to encourage high school students to excel in mathematics and science and to pursue careers in those fields.

Second place went to the defending champion, State College Area High School, which won a science research trip to France. Third place was captured by East Chapel Hill High School from Chapel Hill, N.C.