Texas 2018

[Unome]

I'm guessing LASA was just severely unstacked?

All the top Texas Div C teams typically start out with mainly newer members at the first tournament, or split to a significant extent (Seven Lakes usually doing this the least, hence why they tend to win the early invitationals).

[Adi1008]

UT results:

Division B
3. Austin Area Homeschoolers
2. Kealing Middle School
1. Beckendorff Junior High

Division C
3. LASA
2. Clements High School
1. Seven Lakes High School

Division B scoresheet
Division C scoresheet

Personal thoughts:

• UT's been the best run tournament in Texas for the past few years and seems to be getting even better, especially as more and more alumni join
• The Astronomy test was probably one of the best (if not the best) Astronomy tests I've taken in Texas. I especially liked some of the more conceptual questions (like the one about underestimating Betelgeuse's luminosity). Overall, I can genuinely say I had a ton of fun taking the test and I think the test writer (someone who got second at nationals in the event last year) did a great job with it
• Optics was run by jkang, and like any event run by him, was done exceedingly well. I personally feel like he did a good job with running the LSS given the time constraints and number of teams and the test was also well written and pretty fun to take, although a few of the questions were rather esoteric.
• I can't say much about the hovercraft test since I missed nearly all of it (WIDI went over time) but the person running the device testing was quite knowledgeable and did everything really well.
• WIDI was run pretty well and had as always, a pretty creative/unorthodox structure (although I think the people running it changed) involving folding paper and stickers. While the structure itself was extremely solid (although slightly on the shorter side for me as a builder) the event went ~10 minutes over
• While I didn't take DP myself, I heard it was an amazing test

[jkang]

UT results:

Division B
3. Austin Area Homeschoolers
2. Kealing Middle School
1. Beckendorff Junior High

Division C
3. LASA
2. Clements High School
1. Seven Lakes High School

Division B scoresheet
Division C scoresheet

Personal thoughts:

• UT's been the best run tournament in Texas for the past few years and seems to be getting even better, especially as more and more alumni join
• The Astronomy test was probably one of the best (if not the best) Astronomy tests I've taken in Texas. I especially liked some of the more conceptual questions (like the one about underestimating Betelgeuse's luminosity). Overall, I can genuinely say I had a ton of fun taking the test and I think the test writer (someone who got second at nationals in the event last year) did a great job with it
• Optics was run by jkang, and like any event run by him, was done exceedingly well. I personally feel like he did a good job with running the LSS given the time constraints and number of teams and the test was also well written and pretty fun to take, although a few of the questions were rather esoteric.
• I can't say much about the hovercraft test since I missed nearly all of it (WIDI went over time) but the person running the device testing was quite knowledgeable and did everything really well.
• WIDI was run pretty well and had as always, a pretty creative/unorthodox structure (although I think the people running it changed) involving folding paper and stickers. While the structure itself was extremely solid (although slightly on the shorter side for me as a builder) the event went ~10 minutes over
• While I didn't take DP myself, I heard it was an amazing test

I'm sorry I wrote it at like 3am A bit on my philosophy of test writing though - for most teams UT Invitational is meant to be as a first experience into Invitationals, and the start of the year for SciO. I'd imagine as we go down the year, the tests will start to look the same after people have seen so many, or as supervisors decide to streamline on certain topics. I try my best to ask questions on things other supervisors might not typically, or topics that are related to optics but still good to know about. It's built as a crash course for "here's probably the largest variety of questions and topics you'll get, so prepare yourself for the future" type of thing, or "here's just some good stuff to know as a potential physicist". But for those that want my test, here's the blank test and key:

Optics Key
Optics Test

The remaining tests will be put on our website soon (which is undergoing overhauls, expect that to be out sometime soon as well!). And yes, astronomy and DP were written and run by two of our freshmen - I'm excited to have them be in our organization for the next four years.

[frelell]

The results from UT have been updated due to a scoring error - http://atxscioly.com/competition.html

The UT results are:

Division B
3. Kealing Middle School
2. AAH (Austin Area Homeschoolers)
1. Beckendorf Junior High

Division C
3. AAH (Austin Area Homeschoolers)
2. William P. Clements High School
1. Seven Lakes High School

http://atxscioly.com/attachments/2017In ... esults.pdf
http://atxscioly.com/attachments/2017In ... esults.pdf

[whythelongface]

The results from UT have been updated due to a scoring error - http://atxscioly.com/competition.html

The UT results are:

Division B
3. Kealing Middle School
2. AAH (Austin Area Homeschoolers)
1. Beckendorf Junior High

Division C
3. AAH (Austin Area Homeschoolers)
2. William P. Clements High School
1. Seven Lakes High School

http://atxscioly.com/attachments/2017In ... esults.pdf
http://atxscioly.com/attachments/2017In ... esults.pdf

Wait, LASA didn't even make top three?

[pikachu4919]

The results from UT have been updated due to a scoring error - http://atxscioly.com/competition.html

The UT results are:

Division B
3. Kealing Middle School
2. AAH (Austin Area Homeschoolers)
1. Beckendorf Junior High

Division C
3. AAH (Austin Area Homeschoolers)
2. William P. Clements High School
1. Seven Lakes High School

http://atxscioly.com/attachments/2017In ... esults.pdf
http://atxscioly.com/attachments/2017In ... esults.pdf

Wait, LASA didn't even make top three?

I don't think LASA stacks until State, iirc

[jkang]

The results from UT have been updated due to a scoring error - http://atxscioly.com/competition.html

The UT results are:

Division B
3. Kealing Middle School
2. AAH (Austin Area Homeschoolers)
1. Beckendorf Junior High

Division C
3. AAH (Austin Area Homeschoolers)
2. William P. Clements High School
1. Seven Lakes High School

http://atxscioly.com/attachments/2017In ... esults.pdf
http://atxscioly.com/attachments/2017In ... esults.pdf

Wait, LASA didn't even make top three?

I don't think LASA stacks until State, iirc

From my knowledge, the plan for LASA is to stack next semester, starting with MIT. Aka, for the out-of-state tournaments, as well as the regionals/states/nationals series.

[dkarkada]

The Astronomy test was probably one of the best (if not the best) Astronomy tests I've taken in Texas. I especially liked some of the more conceptual questions (like the one about underestimating Betelgeuse's luminosity). Overall, I can genuinely say I had a ton of fun taking the test and I think the test writer (someone who got second at nationals in the event last year) did a great job with it

Thanks man, it means a lot!

After the test gets uploaded, if anyone wants to discuss questions/answers, feel free to shoot me an email (dkarkada@gmail.com) or message me on FB (Dhruva Karkada). If you think there's an error in the test -- it's very possible! Please let me know, it's always great to learn something new.

[mrpotatohead]

Does anyone know where I could find Cyfalls results from 2008-2013?

[QuantumEcho]

2017 Seven Lakes HS Invitational Results (Correct me if I am wrong)

1. LASA
2. Tompkins
3. Langham Creek