The Trinity Episcopal students are becoming the team to hate at the annual state Science Olympiad.

Both years the middle school students have competed, they’ve walked away with it all and a ticket to nationals.

Friday, the Trinity team of 15 came home with 47 medals, placing in all 23 categories and winning the overall title.

“We didn’t really have time to prepare for all 23, but we medaled in them all,” science teacher Stephanie Daly said.

Much of this year’s success can be attributed to last year’s experiences, though, Daly said.

After winning the state title last year, the students traveled to Indiana, where they competed in nationals. The group didn’t place in any national competitions, but came home with a whole new perspective, she said.

“Our confidence level was really good because our last competition was nationals,” Daly said.

The Science Olympiad on the campus of the University of Southern Mississippi, is a hands-on version of elementary science fairs.

Students have several months to prepare, but once they arrive on site they have to perform for judges. Experiments have to work, and students have to be able to answer any question thrown their way.

The categories include disease detectives, ecology, oceanography, anatomy, rocks and minerals, meteorology and metric mastery. Seven schools competed in the event.

Carolyn Mullins, Bethany Ogden and Margaret Ward won gold medals for their “Mission possible” project. The girls created a model including simple machines — an incline plane, a screw, three levers, a wheel and axle, a pulley and a wedge.

The machines worked together with marbles to force a light can of food to lift a heavier can of food.

Mullins, a ninth-grader with experience from last year’s projects, was the brainpower behind the project.

“We had to make a design and do research,” Mullins said.

“Then it was just working as you go to find out which would work.”

Mullins, who wants to be a fashion designer, would make a perfect engineer, Daly said.

And all three girls agree, working on scientific-minded projects like theirs would be a fun job.

The group began work on their project before Christmas and worked during study hall and after school to complete the project.

Other winners include:

Jheri Dupre Ogden — three gold medals

Katherine Timm — one gold, three silvers

Sarah Brumfield — one silver, two bronzes

Mullins — one gold, two silvers

Madelyn Cross — two golds, one bronze

Morgan Huber — two golds, one silver, one bronze

Nick Partridge — one silver, two bronzes

Eric James — two golds, one silver

Cody Strickland — one gold, one silver, on bronze

Bethany Ogden — three golds

Ward — three golds

Madeline Iles — three golds, one bronze

Sammy Qa’Dan — one gold, two silvers

Rudy Timm — two golds, one bronze

Logan Sewell — one gold, one bronze

The students won the right to represent Mississippi at nationals, but Daly said they likely wouldn’t make the trip this year. Nationals will be in Kansas, and preparing projects and funding in the time available isn’t easily possible, she said. The 2008 national competition is in Washington, D.C., though, Daly said. And the group plans to go there.