The McKinney Boyd High School Battle of the Blues Physics Olympics team took home the trophy for 2016.

McKinney, Texas – Last Thursday, 15 teams representing McKinney ISD’s three high schools gathered at McKinney High School for the 3rd annual battle of wits and creativity that is the MISD “Battle of the Blues” Physics Olympics.

This time around, McKinney Boyd High School wrested the overall title and coveted silver cup away from last year’s victors, McKinney North High School and fellow contenders McKinney High School in a contest that could best be described as a track meet of the mind. Teams compete to win medals and points in 12 individual events with a cumulative total deciding the overall winning campus.

The McKinney Boyd High School Battle of the Blues Physics Olympics team took home the trophy for 2016.

It’s the second time Boyd has won, and for senior Majied LaFleur, a member of the Boyd “Flux Capacitors” team, it felt good to bring the trophy back to Boyd.

“This Physics Olympics competition was absolutely awesome,” said LaFleur. “I’ve done competitions in the past, but I’ve never done as big a competition as this, and I’ve got to say that this really is awesome for all the students to be able to participate in this. And to be able to bring home that trophy is just a really good feeling and really helps show that Bronco Pride.”

Boyd captured the cup by topping the medal count with 7 Gold, 4 Silver and 4 Bronze medals. North earned 5 Gold, 5 Silver and 6 Bronze medals, and McKinney High School brought home 1 Gold, 3 Silver and 3 Bronze medals.

With the Physics Olympics, there’s something for just about everybody. This year’s events included Mousetrap Cars powered by—as its name implies—a mouse trap; a Slow Bike Race, which proved to be far more entertaining than its name implies; three brain-straining sit-and-answer-difficult-questions events: Quiz Show, Fermi Questions and Calculator Relay; the perennial contest favorite Egg Drop event, during which success is heartily applauded but failure is equally enjoyable; the Living Museum, where physics, history and theatre collide; the Spaghetti Bridge event during which frail spaghetti finds newfound strength through carefully engineered design (The winner withstood 15 lbs. of pressure.); a spontaneous race event that involved a bunch of balloons, a lot of hot air and static electricity; the House of Cards challenge and a Building event. There were even Physics Olympics Theme Song entries, the winner of which was a mind-boggling adaptation of “Take on Me” by 80’s one hit wonders A-ha.

Students compete in the Quiz Show event.

Physics teacher David Hodum releases an entry in the Egg Drop competition.

The Egg Drop always elicits cheers…

…or groans.

Few eggs survive the rigors of the Egg Drop event.

Students compete in the Quiz Show event.

In the Living Museum event, students portrayed famous physicists.

The Living Museum competition brought out the actor in the participants.

Bob Peterson, who teaches physics at Boyd was pleased with his students’ performance. “We think our kids did fantastic, and we’re very, very proud of them. They worked hard all year. They had a lot of fun doing it, which was important, and we are just really happy that we can represent Boyd High School and win this competition.”

Medals and trophies aside, the Physics Olympics is a great opportunity for students to put their scientific knowledge and creativity to the test while having some fun along the way. Win or lose, it’s a great experience for everybody.

And for those who might consider participating next year, Lafleur had this to offer: “I definitely say do it. Gather some friends…even if you may not do that well, it still is really fun in the end, and also you get free food. That’s always a good deal!”

Well said.

Here are the three top-scoring teams from the MISD 2016 “Battle of the Blues” Physics Olympics:

1st Place

MBHS “Uncertainties” (Team #12) — Thai Nguyen, Nidha Sha, Riley Roberts, Anthony Liu, Joseph Vilches—Gold Medals in Quiz Show, Fermi Questions, Calculator Relay, and Spaghetti Bridge; Silver Medal in Roller Coaster; Bronze Medals in Mousetrap Car and the Building Event

2nd Place

MNHS “Torque Team” (Team #1)—Ellie Erhart, Joseph Fabian, Collin Pratt, Anthony Guardia, Lois Ruiz—Gold Medals in Living Museum and House of Cards (Tie); Silver Medals in Fermi Questions (Tie), Calculator Relay and Olympic Theme Song; Bronze Medals in Quiz Show and Roller Coaster

3rd Place

MHS “No Naked Numbers” (Team #7)—Lindy Patterson, Pepper Jones, Carter Landis, Travis Harsch, Michael Hamilton—Gold Medal in the Building Event; Silver Medals in Quiz Show and Spaghetti Bridge

Other medal-winning teams:

MBHS —“Where’s Hodum?” (Team #14)—Ashley Hicks, Jodie Chen, Isamar Ramirez, Alyssa Weishaar, Courtney Cadenhead—Gold Medal in Spontaneous Event; Silver Medal in Mousetrap Car; Bronze Medal in Spaghetti Bridge

MNHS—“Khan Academy” (Team #2)— Braden Livingston, Trey Sinclair, Jaden Woods, Jonathan Schneider, Kamryn Scamperle—Gold Medal in Olympic Theme Song and House of Cards (Tie)

MBHS—“Flux Capacitors” (Team #15)—Sumner Bye, Aidan Ewing, Majied LaFleur, Justin Paxson, Kyle Brim—Gold Medal in Mousetrap Car and Slow Bike Race, Silver Medal in Fermi Questions (Tie)

MNHS—“Tesla’s Coils” (Team #3)—Jack DeMarco, Jackson Pitt, Diandria Veals, Chad Troung, Khalil Lewis—Bronze Medal in Calculator Relay, Living Museum, and Olympic Theme Song

MHS—“The Action Potential (AP) Team” (Team #6)—Brandon Lisonbee, Isaiah Moorehead, Justin Burch, Hannah LaVoie, Thomas McGowan—Silver Medal in Living Museum

MNHS—“Lil’ Einsteins” (Team #5)—Hannah Culberson, Lesley Garcia, Ishpinder Walia, Derek Page, Emily McDonald—Gold Medal in Roller Coaster; Silver Medal in Building Event

MBHS—“Quantum Chromatics” (Team #13)— Tyler Kuehn (front) Abel Martinez, Luke Ledbetter, Justin Potts, Alex Meza—Silver Medal in Slow Bike Race

MHS—“Bearded Dragons” (Team #10)—Essence Lassiter, Abigail Wynn (not pictured) Bayleigh Bustamante, Jake Bearg, Sydney Wood,—Bronze Medal in Spontaneous Event

MNHS—“FNET” (Team #4)—Tony Primerano, Serenity Hill, Andre Everett, Janella Tee—Silver Medal in Spontaneous Event; Bronze Medal in Slow Bike Race (Photo not available)

MBHS—“Team Shelton” (Team #11)—John Katada, Kami Strander, Travis Woods, HD Tolson, Alexia Koltes—Bronze Medal in House of Cards (Photo not available)

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