ALPENA — The Alpena High School Science Olympiad reached a significant milestone on Saturday when it claimed its 10th straight regional victory, securing its spot in next month’s state finals.

The 30th annual regional Science Olympiad was held at Alpena Community College where Alpena students took first place in 14 of the day’s 23 events. Science Olympiad coach Melissa Doubek said before the streak began in 2008 she only could find one other time the team had taken first.

“We had a lot of freshman competing this year so I was very excited that not only did our seniors but also our freshman really stepped up,” she said.

The team’s top competitors included Angela Salacata, who took first place in disease detectives, optics, remote sensing, and rocks and minerals; Megan Milostan took first place in anatomy, forensics, hydrogeology and invasive species; and Priya Pokorzynski took first in chem lab, forensics, wind power and material science.

Salacata, who has been involved with Science Olympiad since third grade and took first place in all four of her events, said she had been preparing for several months with the help of the team’s mentors.

“To prepare for one of my events I talked to public health experts just to develop a better understanding of the field,” she said. “It helped lead to a good showing in our division and we had quite a few competitors.”

Pokorzynski said one of her favorite events was forensics because of the qualitative research she gets to perform during the competition. She said the wording for the competitions also added a dimension of difficulty.

“The tests can be 20 questions or 100,” Pokorzynski said. “The rules are vague, and purposefully so, so you never know exactly what you will be tested on.”

The team competed with the help of mentors Kathleen Howard, Tina Rossi, Nathan Lafarge, Deb Hautau and Avery Aten who were credited with giving students the extra edge in the competition due to their expertise.

The next competition for the team is when the top 60 Michigan schools meet at Michigan State University for the state competition on April 29. Doubek is hoping the team will be able to place in at least one of the competitions.

“Last year I had high expectations and we got shutout,” Doubek said. “It took me off guard but I am hoping for one or two medals this year. I think we have the possibility to win in at least one event.”

Hillman’s Science Olympiad team will also compete in this year’s state competition.

Tyler Winowiecki can be reached via email at twinowiecki@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5688. Follow Tyler on Twitter tw_alpenanews.