SCSO announces date for 2025 State Tournament
South Carolina Science Olympiad, after discussion and planning meetings with representatives from our new host institution, Presbyterian College, is excited to announce Saturday, March 1, 2025, as the date of its state tournament for Divisions B and C for this season. This season’s tournaments will be the thirty-ninth Division B and the fortieth Division C state tournament in the history of South Carolina Science Olympiad, and the first since 2018 to be held in the upstate. Upon hosting the tournament in March, Presbyterian College will become the third college or university to host a South Carolina Science Olympiad tournament:
Past tournament hosts
Newberry College - Newberry, S.C.
Host of the SCSO State Tournament (1985–2018) and the Newberry Regional (2019)
The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina - Charleston, S.C.
Host of the SCSO State Tournament (2019–2024) and the Citadel Regional (2019)
Presbyterian College - Clinton, S.C.
Host of the SCSO State Tournament (2025–present)
The organization will be led into this season by Patrick Nelson, its fourth state director; he is joined by Leni Patterson and Katherine Reid on the SCSO Board, which will announce new members soon.
About the State Director
Patrick Nelson is a graduate student pursuing an M.S. in Epidemiology from the University of South Carolina. He is an SCSO alum and got his B.S. in Mathematics from Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, where he founded and ran the Centre College Science Olympiad Invitational in 2023. He has written and run events at the state level in South Carolina and Kentucky. He is in first year as South Carolina's fourth State Director.
About the SCSO Board Members
Leni Patterson is the Executive Director of Strategic Initiatives at Presbyterian College, a role she has held since 2021. Previously, she served as PC’s Dean of Enrollment, Dean of Community Life, Executive Director of Alumni Relations, Interim Vice President of Enrollment, and Interim Director of Marketing and Communications. She has also had leadership roles with the South Carolina and National School Boards Associations and is a 1983 graduate of PC.
Katherine Reid has been the Executive Administrative Assistant at Laurens County School District 56 since 2021. Previously, she worked as an Administrative Assistant in the Office of the Provost at Presbyterian College from 2010 to 2021. She is a 1998 graduate of PC.
More board members will be announced soon!
