Mighty minds on display at BNL's Science Bowl

Mighty minds on display at BNL's Science Bowl
Brooklyn brainiacs top Ward Melville, RP and MP squads

Published in the Times Beacon Record Newspapers 02/07/2008
By: Kyle Reitan

The New England Patriots weren't the only team to be upset this weekend.Several school districts, including a heavy local favorite, put on their thinking caps, but couldn't overcome some big brains from Brooklyn. With defending champion Ward Melville battling them to the wire, Brooklyn Technical High School was crowned champion of Brookhaven National Laboratory's annual Regional Science Bowl, held Saturday at the Upton laboratory.Brooklyn Tech's big win broke Ward Melville's four-year Regional Science Bowl winning streak, according to Ward Melville coach Robert Spira, and topped off a day featuring high-speed question-and-answer rounds — with quizzes ranging from biology to chemistry to astronomy to math — between teams from 18 Long Island and New York City high schools.Also participating in the event, which was part of the U.S. Department of Energy's National Science Bowl competition, were squads from Miller Place and Rocky Point high schools. The regional competition was sponsored by Brookhaven Science Associates, the Long Island Science Center and Teachers Federal Credit Union.The members of the champion Brooklyn Tech team received $500 in gift certificates and were invited to participate in the National Science Bowl, slated for May 1-6 in Washington, D.C. East Setauket's Ward Melville team earned $250 in gift certificates for its runner-up performance, while the third-place team, from Port Jefferson Station's Comsewogue High School, took home $125 in certificates.Joseph Gabrinowitz, coach of the Rocky Point team, said his brainy players "expected to do a little better than they did," but he still considers Saturday's event a "learning experience" for both himself and Rocky Point's futurecompetitors."What I learned was that I have to prepare better," noted Rocky Point team member Daniel Potaznick.Since the national tournament's inception in 1991, more than 130,000 high school students have participated, according to a BNL press release."It's always nice to go to competition," noted coach Lauren Gentile, who led Miller Place High School's first-ever Regional Science Bowl squad: "It's nice just to be representing Miller Place."