Preston Middle School Wins Science Olympiad Again

Preston Middle School has taken the state science title for the second year in a row, beating last year’s narrow loss by a wide margin. The win marks the school’s 15th overall championship and its 14th since 2010. The state meet was held on April 4 at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, where Preston’s Teal team finished ahead of Homeschool Science Colorado, the defending champions. With this victory, Preston will compete in the national tournament on May 22‑23 at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Poudre School District teams performed strongly, capturing six of the top ten spots in the middle school division. In the high school division, Fossil Ridge High School earned second and third places behind Homeschool Science Colorado. The competition featured 23 events, covering genetics, earth science, chemistry, anatomy, physics, geology, engineering and technology.Preston’s Teal team dominated eight events, placed second in six, and earned top four positions in the remaining four. Their total score of 63 points was 53 ahead of the runner‑up in a field of 30 teams. Other middle school teams that advanced included Kinard Core Knowledge Gold (third), Lesher No. 1 (fifth), Preston Purple (sixth), Wellington Maroon (eighth) and Kinard Blue (ninth). Fossil Ridge’s Black team finished only three points behind the high school champion, while their Green team was 109 points ahead of fourth place. Only 30 teams moved on from the regional rounds in March to compete at the state championships. Preston’s streak of titles began in 1998, a few years after the school opened. The program was briefly interrupted in 2021 when Homeschool Science Colorado won, but Preston reclaimed the crown from 2022‑24 before losing by three points last year. Coach Elizabeth Loyd now holds the record for 11 state titles, with assistant coaches Shamie Beecher and Joe Mlakar supporting her.