Students from St. Bede Academy earned top honors at a Feb. 27 regional academic competition hosted by Illinois Valley Community College. They finished first overall against several area schools.

St. Bede competed against students from La Salle-Peru High School, Hall High School, Mendota High School, Ottawa Township High School, Streator Township High School, and Marquette Academy at the area’s Worldwide Youth in Science and Engineering Program (WYSE). Marquette placed second overall and Ottawa finished third.

St. Bede students delivered particularly strong performances in science categories, sweeping the top three individual places in both physics and chemistry.

In chemistry, first place went to junior Ranbir Saini, followed by junior Ishvir Singh in second and junior Kyra Finley in third.

In physics, senior Alp Arslan earned first place, senior Ryan Soliman placed second and senior Noah Buck finished third.

Additional honors included a first-place tie in mathematics by junior Lin Lin and Soliman and Saini tying for second place. Arslan also received an honorable mention in computer science.

Faculty advisor Dan Fitzpatrick noted that this year’s competition featured a new format in which students competed directly against all area schools regardless of enrollment size.

“For the first time, students competed against every local school in the same pool,” Fitzpatrick said. “It was impressive to see our students perform so well in a very rigorous academic competition.”

Following the competition, Soliman said he’s very grateful to have been taught so well by all the science and math teachers at St. Bede.

“They’ve set the building blocks for not just my success, but the team as well. This competition was a team win and I just simply did my part to help,” he said.

The WYSE program encourages high school students to explore careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics through competitive academic testing.

Fitzpatrick said the results reflect the dedication of students as well as the support and preparation provided by their teachers.

“It’s always exciting to see students apply what they’ve learned in the classroom and excel in a challenging environment,” he said.