Locals show well at science fair

Many students from schools in the San Lorenzo Valley and Scotts Valley competed in the Santa Cruz County Science Fair from March 12 to 14 at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds in Watsonville.
After the votes were tallied, dozens of locals were in the top four in their divisions, and a handful qualified for statewide and international science fairs.
Below is a list of the winners.
Projects marked with an asterisk have qualified for the California State Science Fair, May 17 through 18 in Los Angeles. Two asterisks signifies qualification for both the state fair and the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, which will be May 9 through 14 in San Jose.
Vine Hill Elementary
Tristan Barca-Hall, first place, elementary Behavioral Social Science division, Seagate Clever Scientist award: “Pretty Tough Baby”
Gabe and Elleda Spitzer, first place, primary Botany division: “How Many Seeds in Pumpkin?”
Katrina Lombrozo, first place, primary Zoology division: “How Do Birds Fly?”
Genevieve Bellavan, second place, primary Zoology division: “How Does a Chick Breathe Inside Their Shells?”
Megan Gurer, first place, elementary Zoology division: “Amazing Cat Whiskers”
Ariana Davis, second place, elementary Zoology division: “Waves and Echolocation”
Brook Knoll Elementary
Grace Kerr, third place, primary Biochemistry division: “The Best Blob”
Venny Petrini, first place, elementary Botany division: “How Color Effects Plants”
Michael Nazareth, third place, primary Chemistry division: “Slime: How Gooey”
Andrew Nazareth, fourth place, primary Energy and Power division: “Different Ways to Light”
Emma Chaefer-Whittall, second place, primary Microbiology division: “What Do Slime Molds Eat?”
Kieran Ruf, second place, primary Product Science division: “Left Out in the Cold”
Neil Pacella, third place, elementary Product Science division: “What Brand of Popcorn Gives You Yummy For Your Tummy?”
Scotts Valley Middle
*Victoria Jones, first place, junior Behavioral Social Sciences division, U.S. Navy Award and Plantronics award: “Mario Distraction”
Boulder Creek Elementary
Rowan Nolan, fourth place, elementary Botany division: “Is It Fresh?”
Sophia Mallett, first place, primary Medicine and Health division: “Benham’s Disc”
Jonathan Rose, fourth place, elementary Physics division: “Trebuchet Repeatability and Accuracy”
Chloe Zehr, fourth place, elementary Zoology division: “Affect of Sound on Sea Mammals”
Pacific Collegiate
*Celine Payne (Ben Lomond) and Denise Tien (Scotts Valley), first place, junior Botany division: “Survival of Dragons”
San Lorenzo Valley Elementary
Aiden Largay, first place, primary Energy and Power division, Plantronics award: “Solar Panels: Angle and Power”
San Lorenzo Valley Charter and Homeschool
Henry Mullins, first place, primary Chemistry division: “Freezing and Melting Race”
Sarah Stoner-Nicolosi, elementary Cognitive Science division: “Mystery Spot: Illusion or Anomaly”
Ocean Grove Charter
Max Freedman, first place, primary Earth Science division: “Let it Snow”
Emma Freedman, first place, elementary Microbiology division: “The Clean Queen”
Coast Redwood Middle
Sierra Laird, third place, junior Environmental Engineering division: “Remotely Operated”
Baymonte Christian
*Catherine Williams, second place, junior Botany division: “Factors Affecting Sweet Pea Tendril Growth”
Juliana Bontrager, third place, junior Chemistry division: “I See Vitamin C”
Emily Lawson, fourth place, junior Cognitive Science division: “Reaction Time”
Brian Glahn, fourth place, junior Physics division: “What Wing Designs Produce the Most Lift?
Kirk Booth and Connor Maliesky, IEEE award: “Editing Reality”
San Lorenzo Valley High
**Kelly Chesus and Joanna Coker, first place, Microbiology division, National Association of Biology Teachers award and U.S. Air Force award: “Postcards from the Bay”
**Alex Rinkert and Connor Chesus, first place, senior Zoology division, National Association of Biology Teachers award: “Bird of Quail Hollow Ranch”
*Beau Broughton and Torunn Sweers, second place, senior Zoology division: “Rocky Intertidal”
*Nettie Mitchell-Brudnick, Brittany Whitehill and Claire Barnes, first place, senior Botany division: “Sudden Death Oak”
*Rachel Bickert and Kelli Van Wandelen, first place, senior Earth Science division, AWG Sage Award: “Beach Profiling”
*Katrina Sutton and Emily Benson, second place, senior Energy and Power division, Air Force Award: “Cleaning Solar Panels”
*Ian Mallett, first place, senior Mathematics division, U.S. Navy award: “Salmonids by Numbers”