Leelanau County schools were well represented in the winner’s circle following a regional Odyssey of the Mind (OM) competition held Saturday at Traverse City East Junior High School.

Seven of 12 teams from Leelanau County participating in the regional competition will advance to a state OM competition to be held April 14 in Traverse City. Hundreds of elementary and middle school-age children from dozens of school districts throughout northwestern Lower Michigan participated in the “creative problem solving” competition.

Three of the Leelanau County teams took first place in their respective categories at last week’s competition.

The only Interlochen Pathfinder School team participating in OM competition took first place in a problem called “Out of the Box Balsa.” The problem calls on children to design, build and test a structure made of wood and glue that will balance and support as much weight as possible. The structure must be designed to fit completely inside a small box before it is completely assembled as judges watch. At the same time, students perform a related skit.

Pathfinder’s first place team members were Alex and Nick Friar, Theo and Rory Womack, Paige Cooley and Stephanie Long.

A team from Leland Public School placed second in the same competition and will also advance to state finals.

A team of sixth grade girls from Leland Public School took first place in a problem called “I’m only thinking of you.” The problem called on the team to create and present an original humorous performance that includes a “self-centered character and a surprise.”

Leland’s first place team members were Greta Carlson, Carly and Savannah Gross, Annalise Robinson, Sammie Sterkenberg and Emma Thomas.

A team from the St. Mary School in Lake Leelanau took second place in the “I’m only thinking of you” problem in a younger division. The team from St. Mary’s participating in the regional competition will also advance to state competition next month.

A team from Glen Lake Community Schools took first place in a problem called “The Large and Small of It.” The problem requires students to create and present an original performance that integrates “Small Pages and Large Versions that change appearance” via technical means.

Glen Lake’s first place team members were Megan Angers, Olivia Pierce-Bluhm, Emma Velis, Tess Slack, Samantha Purifoy, Ryan Tondreau and Kelsey Grigg.

Two other teams from Glen Lake will advance to state competition. One tied for fourth place and another took third place in an older age division in a problem called “Around the World in 8 Minutes.”

In all, six teams from Glen Lake participated in the regional competition and four teams from Leland participated along with one each from Interlochen Pathfinder and Lake Leelanau St Mary’s.

Following the April 14 state competition, a “World” competition will be held May 23-26 in East Lansing. Last year, the “World” competition was held in Ames, Iowa; in 2005 the venue was Boulder, Colo.

Begun in 1978 in New Jersey, the Odyssey of the Mind organization now includes more than 3,500 teams from 18 countries.