The Ellis Middle School Science Olympiad team broke school history this month.

The school’s two teams came in at third and 16th place in the Science Olympiad State Tournament held at University of St. Thomas in St. Paul on March 6.

“Every year we’ve participated we’ve increased our ranking,” coach Tom Fritz said.

The Minnesota Science Olympiad is a program designed to improve the quality of science education, increase student interest in the field and and provide recognition for achievement.

Team competition is modeled after track tournaments, with events ranging from earth science to physics. Challenges include hands-on labs, building machines, outdoor events and paper and pencil tests.

Ellis has two Science Olympiad teams. The Red Team, for veterans, came in third place and the White Team, for newcomers, came in 16th out of 30 teams at the state meet.

Individual place winners from the Red Team include: William Bjorndal, Noah Leuer, Bio Process Lab, first place; William Bjorndal, Ornithology, first place; Matt Tylutki, Rachel Wahlert, Write It/Do It, first place; Andrew Baker, Joe Grabau, Egg Drop, first place; Ethan Johnson, Jacob Schlicter, Solar System, fourth place; Andrew Baker, Kolton Kreuer, Trajectory, fourth place; Tristan Lund, Matt Tylutki, Shock Value, fourth place; Will Bartemes, Kolton Kreuer, Fossils, fifth place; Jessica Pedersen, Qatar Peters, Science Crime Busters, fifth place.

Individual place winners from the White Team include: Colin Hasley, Carter Steichen, Disease Detectives, third place; Caleb Asay, Sawyer Myers, Bio Process Lab, fourth place.