For the first time since 2016, the PHS Science Bowl team took home bronze, placing third in the New Jersey Regional Science Bowl. The team whizzed through rounds, pushing buzzers to answer fast-paced questions in biology, chemistry, earth and space science, energy, mathematics, and physics.

The team progressed quickly through initial rounds of elimination, working collaboratively in assembly lines during tough questions. Tensions were high in the final elimination rounds of the tournament. The scores between High Tech High School and PHS sat close, with the other team leading by just a margin of two points.

“The [round] we got eliminated in [had] a two-point difference. The score was 76 for us and 78 for the other team, and it was on a bonus. If we got this bonus we would advance to the second place, and if we didn’t, we would be in third. It was a very intense bonus,” said team member Benjamin You ’23.

With a team consisting exclusively of seniors, most individuals had expertise in a couple specific categories instead of focusing on all five.

“We all have different strengths, like different subjects in science, so we cover our bases pretty well,” said Science Bowl team captain George Kopf ’23. “I am the bio guy, so all of the biological sciences are my jurisdiction.”

Kopf plays an important role as team captain, leading the team during club meetings and tournaments. During the club meetings leading up to the big day, he created practice rounds of tournaments complete with buzzers. While these club meetings were essential in exercising team members' ability to apply their knowledge, they were also paramount for the team to strengthen their collaboration skills.

“The [team's] performance is based more on how well we work with each other [than] how well we know each other, things like that,” You said.

Though the team will not qualify to compete at the National Science Bowl Tournament in April, their achievements have motivated them and demonstrated how their preparation behind the scenes paid off.

“We expected to get out pretty much immediately, so this was better than expected. [These were] encouraging results,” said team member Samuel Whitley ’23.

Most of the team will graduate this year, leaving behind a lasting legacy on the PHS Science Bowl team. While gaining success at regionals through hard work, the senior veterans still want to preserve the important aspect of having fun.

“Join Science Bowl; it’s really fun. Don’t take it too seriously,” said Kopf. “Just do what you’re interested in, and [those topics] will usually come up.”