farragutpress

FHS teams head to National Science Bowl competition

March 18, 2026 by Tammy Cheek

After winning first place in the 36th annual Tennessee Science Bowl, a Farragut High School team will be heading to Washington, D.C., this spring to compete in the National Science Bowl competition.

“It’s awesome,” said their Science Bowl coach, Matthew Milligan, a FHS physics and astronomy teacher. “It’s great. It always feels good when they win.

“It was an exciting day,” he said. “They had several come-from-behind wins.”

Team 1, consisting of Sophia Chen, Ruhaan Singh, Nathaniel Williamson, Jared Li and Ethan Guo, won first place in the state Science Bowl, held Feb. 20-21, at Pellissippi State Community College’s Blount County campus.

“They beat out 59 other teams to take the trophy,” according to a press release. The team will advance to the National Science Bowl, which will take place from April 30 through May 4, in Washington, D.C.

Additionally, Team 2, consisting of Frank Yang, Roshan Ramanan, Arman Oguz, Stephen Xiao and Jason Jiang, won third place in the regionals while Knoxville Catholic High School received the Civility Award for “modeling sportsmanlike conduct,” the press release stated.

At one point in the state competition, “the two teams [from FHS] had to face each other, which was kind of bittersweet,” Milligan said. “In a way, it was kind of neat that they had competed with each other, but Team 1 eliminated Team 2 and [Team 2] got third place, so it couldn’t really have been much better than it turned out. I’m just happy for the kids … both teams played great all day.”

To win the state, “our success at Farragut is really a testament to the entire Farragut School system, not just Farragut High School,” Milligan said about the feeder schools to FHS. “It’s really an accumulation of knowledge. They can’t really study for this and know everything that’s going to pop up. There are some physics questions, and if they get one of those right, I’m happy. I might have helped them learn that, but there’s also chemistry, biology, general knowledge of science.”

Milligan gave credit for the success to the team.

“I don’t do that much,” he said. “I just make sure all the paperwork’s been done, go with them and try to support them, but these are bright kids and they want to learn something and our schools are strong.”

“For the first time ever, two teams from Tennessee will compete at the national level,” the release stated.

“One of the neat things this year is usually the top winner of the Science Bowl goes to represent Tennessee at the national Science Bowl,” said Shannon Turner, state Science Bowl coordinator and Oak Ridge Associated Universities coordinator. “But this year, the National Science Bowl is allowing the top two teams — first and second place — to go to the nationals.

“Collierville High School’s Team One, the second-place winning team, also will be going to D.C.”

Turner said there were 60 teams — 46 individual schools — competing in the state event.

“It was great,” she said. “We even had five new schools.”

“The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Science Bowl is a nationwide academic competition that tests students’ knowledge in all areas of science and mathematics,” the Science Bowl website stated. “Middle and high school student teams are comprised of four students, one alternate and a teacher who serves as an advisor and coach.

“These teams face-off in a fast-paced question-and-answer format, being tested on a range of science disciplines including biology, chemistry, Earth science, physics, energy and math,” the website added. “The Department of Energy created the National Science Bowl in 1991 to encourage students to excel in mathematics and science and to pursue careers in these fields. More than 350,000 students have participated in the National Science Bowl throughout its 35 years.”