After a season marked by narrow losses and uncertainty, MVHS’s Science Olympiad team won first place at the Science Olympiad National Tournament on May 23 at the University of Southern California. This victory marked the team’s second national championship in three years, placing them ahead of their competitors, including Troy High School and Seven Lakes High School.
Throughout the invitational season, the team repeatedly finished behind its rival teams. Since only one Northern California team advances to the national stage each year, MVHS competitors said the pressure intensified as the season progressed. As losses accumulated and standings remained largely unchanged at regionals in early 2026, facing what many members deemed to be their last realistic opportunity to reach nationals, the students dramatically increased preparation in the two weeks leading up to the state tournament.
Rather than accepting the trajectory of the season, team members spent lunches and tutorials in head coach, club advisor and MVHS science teacher Julie Choi’s room to prepare for their events by utilizing their free time to take practice tests and refine devices. According to junior and next year’s Science Olympiad president Elaina Pan, the increased preparation helped unite the team around a common goal.
“We camped out in room B102 for the entire two weeks after regionals,” Pan said. “At that point, we were really worried that we had put all this effort in and still weren’t going to make nationals. When we finally beat Mountain View at states and qualified for nationals, even though it was by a narrow four points, it felt like all of the work had actually meant something.”
The victory at states on April 4th secured MVHS a spot at the national tournament, but it did little to alter expectations for a national title. The team arrived in Los Angeles carrying a season filled with close calls, and while many hoped to improve upon last year’s eighth-place national finish, few expected the team to clinch even the top three against the best teams for a national title.
According to Director of Written Events and junior Nimal Kumar, those initial expectations appeared justified as the competition unfolded. One event — which Kumar referred to as a “bomb” — produced a result severe enough that the team believed it removed MVHS from contention. By the start of the awards ceremony, students were preparing themselves for another respectable finish rather than a title run. Despite those setbacks, however, Pan and Kumar agree that the rest of the roster gained placements that prevented the team from falling entirely out of the running.
“[The lack of medals] did show near the first half of the award ceremony,” Kumar said. “As it progressed, though, it got better as everyone began to medal. As it turns out, even in the events where we didn’t medal, we were placing anywhere between seventh and tenth place, which is right below the medaling score.”
As final team placements approached, uncertainty gradually gave way to optimism. According to Pan, the team gathered in a prayer circle, a long-standing team tradition, while waiting for the remaining announcements of the top ten teams.
“When we heard Troy get announced as third place, we were already celebrating because we thought that we possibly had a chance for the top two,” Kumar said. “But then again, we also could have just not made the top 10, considering that we didn’t even know the placements for half the events.”
As the competitors waited through the final announcements, students remained huddled together, attempting to process a scenario that had seemed unrealistic throughout much of the season. According to Pan, when defending national champion Seven Lakes High School was announced as runner-up, the team looked at each other in disbelief.
Moments later, MVHS was named national champion, completing a season-long turnaround that few competitors had anticipated months earlier. For Kumar, the result was proof that a team defined for much of the year by setbacks could still finish at the top.
“Many people did not have hope for us against Mountain View,” Kumar said. “But we just kept persevering through it all the way through nationals. In the end, we made it.”
