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Pittston Area Middle School student Dana Zuba, seventh grade, operates her Robo-Cross vehicle she assembled for the Northeast Regional Science Olympiad, held Wednesday, March 11 at Penn State Wilkes-Barre. Her favorite aspect of the event was the competition.

Dallas High School students, from left, Ryan Marshall and Anthony Huntington work on a Compound Machines calculation during the Northeast Regional Science Olympiad, held Wednesday, March 11 at Penn State Wilkes-Barre.

Abington Heights Middle School students pose by a lion statue at Penn State Wilkes-Barre, where they competed in the Northeast Regional Science Olympiad Wednesday, March 11. From left, front, Joshua Parfrey, fifth grade; Bobby Tricarico, fifth grade and Ryan Salony, fifth grade. Middle, Hutch Lynott, fifth grade, Griffin Price, fifth grade and Shaine Hughes, sixth grade. Back, Adam Kenny, fifth grade and Harry Johnson, sixth grade.

Park Forest Middle School students, from left, Aaron Li and Mason Harvill demonstrate their Air Trajectory machine at the Northeast Regional Science Olympiad, held Wednesday, March 11 at Penn State Wilkes-Barre.

LEHMAN TWP. — Rockets. Bridge building. Forensics.

The Northeast Regional Science Olympiad, held Wednesday, March 11 at Penn State Wilkes-Barre featured plenty of topics to capture the attention of middle and high school science enthusiasts.

But for one Wyoming Area student, Mike Remley, eighth grade, the best event of the day was Wheeled Vehicle, in which participants construct a model-size vehicle powered by a non-metallic elastic solid device and manipulate it around an obstacle course with speed and accuracy.

He especially enjoyed building his vehicle ahead of time with his father.

“It was powered by a fishing pole,” Remley said. “It could actually steer with the fishing pole on it. I thought it would just add weight, but it didn’t.”

Wyoming Area Secondary Center middle school students brought home the first place award for Division B in the competition. The district high school team placed fourth in Division C.

Pittston Area middle and high school students were also among the 800-plus participants from 50 schools in northeastern and central Pennsylvania at the competition.

The purpose of the event, which is run by Science Olympiad, an international non-profit organization, is to increase student interest in science, recognize outstanding achievement and improve the quality of science education.

Wheeled Vehicle was also a favorite of T.J. Connors, seventh grade, Pittston Area Middle School, although he enjoyed the entire competition.

“I like being able to do a variety of different things,” he said.

Nick Perry, Wyoming Area eighth grade student, said his favorite competition event was Bottle Rocket, in which participants build a rocket out of soda cans and launch it into the sky.

“I like the design of the rocket,” Perry said. “It had tubes to help it fly through the air.”

For Evan Elko, an eighth grade Pittston Area Middle School student, the best part of the day was seeing his friends from other area schools. His favorite competition event was Air Trajectory, in which participants construct a device that launches a projectile, such as a ping-pong ball, into a target area.

“It was my only building event and I felt I did pretty well in it,” Elko said.

Other events in the competition included Bridge Building, Compound Machines, Forensics, Green Generation, Robo-Cross, Scrambler and more.

“Many states and regions have organized physics, biology or chemistry competitions, but few have combined all disciplines in one large Science Olympiad,” states an event fact sheet. “The excitement of many students from all science areas competing and cheering one another on to greater learning caused one school district to coin the phrase ‘intellete.’ When they searched for a place to house their newly won Science Olympiad State Championship trophy, the only location available was outside the principal’s office in the ‘athlete’ showcase, so they convinced the school board to build an ‘intellete’ showcase.”

Additional Division B winners in this year’s event are Park Forest Middle School, second place; Wayne Highlands Middle School, third place; JT Lambert, fourth place; Wilkes-Barre Academy, fifth place; Abington Heights Middle School, sixth place and Wallenpaupack Middle School, seventh place.

Other winners in Division C include North Pocono High School, first place; Stroudsburg High School, second place; Abington Heights High School, third place; Lehighton High School, fifth place and Dallas High School, sixth place.

Participants competed in both individual and team events, and regional winners will advance to the state competition next month at Juniata College in Huntingdon.