FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 2, 2002
CONTACT: David Christy
916-353-4436, christy@wapa.gov

FOLSOM, Calif.--A team from Tokay High School, Lodi, Calif., won the regional Science Bowl in Sacramento today, earning the opportunity to compete at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Science Bowl® in Washington, D.C., May 3-6.

Team members Daniel Brown, Sherman Yue, Robert Racadio, Josh Funamura and Aaron Santos and their coach, Janwyn Funamura, defeated 27 other teams in the regional competition at Jesuit High School. Teams from 28 Northern California high schools competed head-to-head, answering questions about biology, chemistry, physics, astronomy, earth science, computer science and mathematics.

This is the first year Tokay High will have a team at the National Science Bowl. A team from Tokay High placed second at the regional competition in Modesto last year.

In other Northern California competition this year, Enterprise High School, Redding, won the Redding regional event on Feb. 16 and Johansen High School, Modesto, won the Modesto regional competition on March 23.

The National Science Bowl is an academic competition among teams of high school students from across the United States. Winners of each regional competition earn trips to Washington, D.C., for the national competition. Since the program began in 1991, it has brought together more than 60,000 high school mathematics and science students from across the country. The program encourages students and their teachers to achieve educational excellence in the sciences.