On Thursday, May 7, the Envirothon teams qualified for the state competition. The teams took first and second place at the regional tournament.

Envirothon is an academic competition organized for high school students. The students focus on environmentally themed topics and problem solving questions.

At the tournament, the teams compete in tests such as, forestry, aquatics, soil, and wildlife. The question types included multiple choice, open ended, and true and false.

In addition, the teams gave an oral presentation on a certain subject. This year, the teams presented on urban forestry.

Matt Spandl, senior, member of the envirothon team that placed second, believes studying was the key to their success.

“We studied really hard for the tests and that showed in the competition,” said Spandl. “We actually did better on the tests than I thought.”

The teams will compete next Monday at the state competition, in Croque, Minn. The first place winner from State will go on to Nationals.

Mr. Sammler, coach of the Envirothon teams, was pleased with their performance at the regional tournament.

“Our teams were only one point apart, so they both did very well,” Sammler said. “Plus they beat the team that won state last year, so that’s awesome.”

Erik Rubinyi, senior, member of the Envirothon team that placed first, says that the team will prepare for state by fine tuning their presentation

“We’re gonna clean up our oral presentation a little bit,” Rubinyi said.

Rubinyi believes both teams will do very well at state.

“I’m excited to what we can do,” Rubinyi said. “We have a lot of potential.”

The Envirothon state competition will take place on Monday, May 18.