Seventh-graders T.J. Aldridge, left, and Matt Edwards, both 13, present their research on which type of music enhances a runner’s performance. LINWOOD – When seventh-graders T.J. Aldridge and Matt Edwards set out on their experiment into what style of music enhances a runner’s speed, they felt certain their hypothesis was correct.

“We thought the faster-tempo music like hip-hop or rock would make someone run faster,” said Aldridge.

But when the two boys took their test subjects to the track at Mainland Regional High School in November to test their guess, they were in for a surprise.

“When the runners listened to country music, they ran faster on average,” Edwards said.

The budding scientists presented their findings at the 13th annual science fair at Belhaven Middle School Tuesday, Feb. 7.

For Aldridge, Edwards and the other seventh- and eighth-grade students who submitted projects, the fair marked the culmination of several months’ work. The experiments were then judged by other students, teachers and community members for creativity, presentation and more.

All seventh-graders are required to participate, according to Amy Ojserkis, the school media specialist who helped coordinate the fair.

“The eighth-graders do this voluntarily and can enter a new project or a refined project from the previous year, one where they have worked with scientific experts, refined their research, taken it to the next level of academic rigor,” she said.

Categories included life science, consumer science, physics, earth science, food science, sports, behavioral/social science and medicine/health science.

The top three winners in each category qualified to present their projects at the Jersey Shore Science Fair March 17 at Richard Stockton College, where they will compete against their peers from Atlantic, Ocean, Monmouth and Cape May counties. Students who place there are eligible to represent their school at the Delaware Valley Science Fair April 3 in Washington Township, Pa.

The school has experienced success at both the regional fairs in the past. Last year’s Delaware winners included two Belhaven students and one alumna.

Winners

First place: Madison Weiss and Lexi Schoen, seventh grade; Harrison Freon, eighth grade; Teddy Rundall, seventh grade; Julia Perrone, seventh grade; Josh Richards, seventh grade; Lauren Hoffman and Emma Rha, seventh grade; Morgan Schultz and Jenny Margolis, seventh grade; Jack Anderson and Matt Epstein, seventh grade; Jamie Fortunado, seventh grade; Josh Krachman, seventh grade; and Christina Collings and Nicole Dib, seventh grade.

Second-place winners were seventh-graders Brian Teague, Kelly Glenn, Zach Tobias, Carter Kelly and Shannon Murphy, Jack Bergman and Justin Adler, Skylar Glass and Sarah Morin, Rachel Thorton and Brooke Ridgway, and eighth-grade teams Mimi McCabe and Kara Sulzer, and Caroline Carey and Despina Lianidis.

Third-place winners were seventh-graders Joey Rundall, Michael Delassio and Justin Adler, Brooke Mullin, Matt Edwards and T.J. Aldridge, Ian Ozerk and Pete Kiernan, and Justin Liu; and eighth-graders Michael Dirkes and Dillon Hall.

Honorable mentions were given to eighth-graders Larry Gustufson, John DiNofrio, and Skylar Young and Mollie Booth and to seventh-graders Robyn Kimmel, Rachel Edwards and Erika Islinger.

Eighth-graders Catherine Amara, 13, left, and Samantha Reynolds, 14, say gluten-free cupcakes are not as appetizing as those made from traditional cake mix. Fifth-graders Samantha Higbee, 10, Julia Reilly, 11, Kailyn Gallagher, 10, and Christine Napoli, 11, judge the entries.