The Virginian-Pilot
                             THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Monday, February 13, 1995              TAG: 9502130075
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS                       LENGTH: Medium:   58 lines

LYNCHBURG KIDS WON REGIONAL SCIENCE BOWL REFLEXES, COSMOLOGICAL ANSWER GAVE THEM THE TITLE. NEXT UP: THE NATIONALS.

The regional Science Bowl meet came down to one last question: What do you call the study of the origin of the universe?

``Cosmology,'' said Geoff Milanovich, clinching a narrow victory for E.C. Glass High School of Lynchburg over Spotswood High School of Penn Laird.

Milanovich and his team then ran outside the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility and whooped and jumped with relief in warm afternoon weather Saturday.

``Well, that answer basically decided my career. It's cosmology for me,'' Milanovich said as he tried to catch his breath.

The E.C. Glass team will travel to the national match in April.

Saturday's 16-team meet marked the third year CEBAF hosted the regional competition.

Last year's regional winners, Denbigh High School of Newport News, did not send a team to the regionals this year, said event organizer Beverly Hartline.

Spotswood, which beat Lafayette High School of James City County to reach the finals, had to play Glass for two rounds because the Glass team entered the finals without a defeat.

Spotswood started the final round by beating Glass 114-84.

Glass senior Elliot Tally said, ``It had been two hours since our last match. We were slow because we got out of our groove and into our leisure activities.''

Spotswood trailed most of the second game, but could have made up a 10-point deficit on the final question. But Milanovich beat Spotswood to the buzzer for a 98-84 victory.

The Lafayette team had never attended the Science Bowl and took third place without much practice. Senior Ryan Bedell didn't even join the team until two days before the meet.

``Someone had to do my sign-in form for me while we were playing the first round,'' Bedell said. ``We really came in not knowing what each of us knew. We were buzzing when someone else on the team really knew the answer. Knowing the strengths of your team is really important.''

The Lafayette students who had a little more advance notice of the event did practice a little, said senior Eric Cooprider.

``One night we just took out all the Trivial Pursuit cards and asked all the science questions we could find,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS

Patrick West, 18, facing the camera, and William Quale, 17, seniors

from E.C. Glass High School of Lynchburg, celebrated after their

team won the regional 1995 Science Bowl on Saturday. The team will

take part in the April national convention in Washington, D.C.

by CNB