U.S. Olympiad Team Chosen

Athletes preparing for the games in Athens aren’t the only ones facing grueling training schedules and tough competition. After an intense two-week camp, four high school students were selected from a pool of 20 to represent the U.S. at the 36th International Chemistry Olympiad.

Eric Brown (McCallie School, Chattanooga, Tenn.), John L. Kiappes Jr. (Memorial High School, Houston), Emily Tsui (Montgomery Blair High School, Silver Spring, Md.), and Fan Zhang (Bergen County Academies, Hackensack, N.J.) will face teams from more than 50 countries in Kiel, Germany, from July 18 to 27. Jeremy Hiatt (Harvard-Westlake High School, North Hollywood, Calif.) was selected as first alternate, and Allen Cheng (Arcadia High School, Arcadia, Calif.) is the second alternate.

The 20 students gathered at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs from June 6 to 20 for college-level training with team coaches Roxana Allen (St. John’s School, Houston), Nadine Szczepanski (MacMurray College, Jacksonville, Ill.), and Todd Trout (Lancaster Country Day School, Lancaster, Pa.). Activities included lectures, problem-solving exercises, lab work, and testing, with an emphasis on organic chemistry.

The students were preparing for the Chemistry Olympiad’s battery of theoretical and practical exams, lectures, and tours. In Germany, they’ll also have opportunities for some sightseeing and recreation. Szczepanski and Trout will accompany the team.

ACS subsidizes the U.S. team every year with funding from the ACS Othmer Olympiad Endowment and corporate sponsors.