Liberty and Yuma Students Take Top Prizes at 71st NJC Science Fair

Fifty-seven students from across Northeast Colorado competed Feb. 20 at the 71st annual Northeast Colorado Regional Science Fair held at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, with Sonya Shaw directing the event in her 12th and final year and students from Liberty and Yuma schools claiming top prizes. The fair featured 20 senior division projects from Liberty, Yuma and Holyoke High School and 37 junior division projects from Idalia, Peetz, Liberty, Idalia, Wray and Yuma Junior High.

Top finishers in the junior division were Hannah Deering of Yuma in first place, who received a $500 cash prize; Jaxon DePue of Wray in second place, who received $300; and Skyler Kechter of Liberty in third place, who received $100. In the senior division, Juakin Sawatzky of Liberty finished third overall and was awarded a $300 cash prize.

Category awards in junior competition included Environmental Science 1st place Harley Leehan, 2nd place Kixx Bates and 3rd place Cache Ball; Engineering 1st place Bosslee Soehner, 2nd place Cole Meier, and 3rd place finishes for Tristan Ellis, Matthew Reichman and Riggs Miller-Cross; Physics 1st place Jaxson DePue, 2nd place Emmit Richie and 3rd place ties for Kendyl Oestman and Sarah Schmidt; Math and Computer Science 1st place Sovereign Sybrant and 2nd place Charliann Soehner; Microbiology 1st place Kyla Melby; and Health and Medicine 1st place Harper Roberts.

Seventh grader Cole Meier of Peetz Junior High, a first-time competitor who placed 2nd in Engineering, said he wanted to compete because “how cool some of the projects are.” Meier’s finish was one of several strong showings from junior competitors representing Peetz, Liberty, Wray, Idalia and Yuma Junior High.

Awards in the senior division included Plant Science 1st place Brenda Bonilla and 2nd place Tyler Wise; Animal Science 1st place Maggie Anderson and 2nd place Haley Smith with Carter McClellan in 3rd; and Chemistry 1st place Kinzi Dawson. Several of the named senior finalists will advance to the state competition in April.

Finalists who qualified to compete at the Colorado Science and Engineering Fair, April 9-11 at Colorado State University, include Haley Smith of Yuma, Maggie Anderson of Yuma, Haydan Drullinger of Liberty, Kilah Rojas of Liberty, Aislynn Boese of Yuma, Taelynn Rojas of Liberty and Katherine Madrid of Liberty. Other CSEF finalists include: Sovereign Sybrant of Wray, Kayla Melby of Yuma, Paxton McClellan of Liberty and Kynzlee Rojas of Liberty.

Event results as published contain a few variant spellings that may require clarification from organizers: the junior division second-place name appears as Jaxon DePue while the Physics 1st place is listed as Jaxson DePue, and Microbiology 1st place appears as Kyla Melby while the CSEF finalists list includes Kayla Melby. Organizers at Northeastern Junior College and fair leadership can confirm final spellings and the complete list of qualifiers for the state fair.

With Sonya Shaw concluding her 12th year as director, local students from Liberty, Yuma, Wray, Peetz, Idalia and Holyoke will carry regional representation to the Colorado Science and Engineering Fair at Colorado State University April 9-11, where the region’s top projects will compete against finalists from across the state.