Davis High School’s Science Olympiad team placed third at the state competition on Apr. 14 at the University of Utah.

            The team earned a score of 132, falling behind West High School with 125 points and the Utah County Academy of Science with 101 points. A first place gives a team one point.

            The team expected to place above third and have taken first seven times in the past 12 years.

            “We were already planning the national trip,” said senior Hayley Direda, who competed in Remote Sensing, Water Quality, and Material Science.

            “We had our sights set on first place and a trip to Orlando, Florida, but our amazing robot fell apart at the last moment before its turn to compete and it could not be fixed in time. Also our tower collapsed when we all were sure it would win big,” said Science Olympiad advisor Frank Stevens.

            Sophomore Lewis Conrad made and competed with the robot, and said that even if his robot, which was wired to pick items up and place them in buckets, had taken first in the event, the point difference would not have bumped the team to first.

            “Some wiring went bad,” said Conrad. “I had to rush home to fix it, and I didn’t make it back in time. It was working that morning.”

            Conrad said that he made the robot the night before. “I really didn’t know what I was doing,” he said.

            Davis earned 29 points in the Robot Arm category. They placed first in Astronomy, Rocks and Minerals, Chemistry Lab, Forensics, Thermodynamics, and Experimental Design. They placed fourth in Tower Building.