March 17, 2022

10 teams advance to Odyssey of the Mind State Finals

A record 10 Upper St. Clair teams earned top spots at the Western Pennsylvania Odyssey Regional Tournament on March 5, 2022 – advancing to the Pennsylvania Odyssey State Finals on April 2 at Lock Haven University. After its virtual format in 2021, the Western Pennsylvania Regional Tournament returned to an in-person competition this year at Keystone Oaks Middle and High Schools.

“Upper St. Clair’s presence at the event was unprecedented with 22 teams from all six of our schools competing against teams from across the region,” Laura Murtough, USC Odyssey of the Mind co-coordinator, said.

Advancing to State Finals at Lock Haven University are:

DIVISION 1 (2nd-5th grade)

• The team from Boyce Middle School who solved the classics problem earned second place. Team members include Enoch Katru, Lexi Dunn, Seth Pedretti, Scarlett Burgess, Violet McLeod and Luciana Purtorti. This team is coached by Kyle Burgess and Mariah McLeod.
  
  
• The team from Streams Elementary who solved the vehicle problem earned second place. Team members include Jad Rawagah, Logan Dunkin, Robbie Lowe, Brighton Perrotti, Jacob Reinford, Drew Holzer and Ivan Yanov. This team is coached by John Reinford and Michelle Holzer.
  
  
• The team from Eisenhower Elementary who solved the performance problem earned second place. Team members include Atticus Simonson, Cara Howard, Alexis Bihary, Emma Mycoff, Ella Aboud, Matthew Campagna. This team is coached by Daniel Simonson and Denise Campagna.
  
  
• The team from Eisenhower Elementary who solved the vehicle problem earned third place. Team members include Keefer Kommer, Tusya Rathore, Aadit Patel, Aaditya Singh, Anay Patel, Veer Bhargava, Charles Ouimette. This team is coached by Nimisha Patel and Elana Ouimette.

DIVISION 2 (6th-8th grade)

• The team from Fort Couch Middle School who solved the performance problem earned first place overall. Team members include Ian Hills, Dhara Santhanam, Jackson Galbraith, Vera Radke, Mark Torres, (kneeling) Madeleine Thomas and Yaqoot Zalloum. This team is coached by Kimberlee Koch and Rema Abdin.
  
  
• The team from Boyce Middle School who solved the classics problem earned second place. Team members include Michael Earley, Cameron Smith, Audrey Chakos, Bella Uffelman, Ella Hancock, Kiran Khurana and Blake Uffelman. This team is coached by Pete Chakos.
  
  
• The team from Boyce Middle School who solved the vehicle problem earned second place. Team members include Max Jacques, Joey Wyse, Matthew Sychterz, Jonah Durbin, Ryan Goffin, Malo Dubriel and Mason Mathews. This team is coached by Cory Durbin and Ashlee Mathews.
  
  
• The team from Fort Couch Middle School who solved the performance problem earned second place for their long-term problem solution. Team members include Kurt Baran, Ayan Amin, Lauren Ginsburg, Eden Elkoni, Geneva Eisinger, Zahra Hossain and Artie McCallum. This team is coached by Nate Eisinger and Artie Baran.
  
  
• The team from Boyce Middle School who solved the technical problem earned third place. Team members include Ashwin Vasudevan, Jillian Torres, Daphne Collins, Parker Sams and Nigel Bailey. This team is coached by Sarah Sams and Jake Collins.

DIVISION 3 (9th-12th grade)

• The team from Upper St. Clair High School who solved the classics problem earned second place. Team members include Esha Lathia, Anastasia Gzikowski, Ben Seewald, John Tripodes, Owen Mucho, Ben Murtough and Peter Markovitz. This team is coached by Meridith Markovitz, Stacey Seewald and Laura Murtough.

Each team of up to seven students worked together for five months to solve a long-term problem in one of five chosen categories: vehicle, technical, classics, balsa or performance. At the tournament, teams were given eight minutes to present their solutions for a panel of judges and were required to provide supporting paperwork including a budget breakdown of their work.

Teams were also required to solve one spontaneous problem that was given to them on the spot. Combined scores in both categories (long-term and spontaneous), along with additional points for style, provided the tournament results.

Odyssey of the Mind is an international STEAM program that fosters creative problem-solving skills, teamwork and ownership in students from grades K through 12. One of the trademarks of the program is its “no outside assistance” philosophy. All ideas, scripts, props, solutions and paperwork are generated by the team members with no input from coaches, parents or teachers.

For more information about Odyssey of the Mind in Upper St. Clair, visit www.uscootm.com or email uscootm@gmail.com.