For the third year in a row, Dos Pueblos High School on Saturday won the Kern County Regional Science Bowl at California State University, Bakersfield. Second place went to Stockdale High School and third place went to Centennial High School, both in Bakersfield.

The Dos Pueblos team will now advance to the National Science Bowl sponsored by the Energy Department from April 28 to May 2 in Washington, D.C.

The speedy final round included many buzzes by the competitors before moderator Miles Muzio, meteorologist for KBAK-29 Eyewitness News, finished giving the multiple-choice answers.

“I’m always impressed by the level of knowledge of the students here,” Muzio said during the awards ceremony. “Congratulations to all.”

This year marked the 14th year the Science Bowl had been hosted by CSUB, and the 19th year that Kern County had hosted the regional competition. The event featured 150 students from 15 high schools competing in a question-answer quiz format that covered biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, computer science, Earth science and astronomy. The event was sponsored by Occidental of Elk Hills and Aera Energy.

Dos Pueblos team captain Ilan Goodman said the students put a lot of energy into preparing for the competition.

Dos Pueblos High students, from left, Daniel Richman, Andy Granatelli, Ilan Goodman and Daniel Gay get their game faces on for Saturday’s Kern County Regional Science Bowl held at California State University, Bakersfield. (California State University, Bakersfield photo)

“We’ve been practicing all year,” he said. “We have meetings every week and more than once a week since New Year’s. We mostly do practice questions and read textbooks on subjects we haven’t had classes on.”

The Dos Pueblos team, coached by Chris Jones, includes Goodman and fellow students Michael Feldman, Daniel Gay, Andy Granatelli and Daniel Richman.

The final question of the day was: “What oceanic plate sits west of the South American Plate, forming a convergent boundary?” The answer, given correctly by the Dos Pueblos team, was the Nazca Plate.

Thomas Meyer, CSUB professor of physics and computer science and coordinator of the event, said he was pleased by the good sportsmanship of all the students in Saturday’s competition.

“They’re amazing,” he said. “That’s why we do it.

“These are such fantastic kids. Every time I participate in this, I think, ‘The future of America is in good hands — scientifically speaking, that is.’”

— Jennifer Baldwin is the public affairs coordinator for California State University, Bakersfield.