A team of five students from Montgomery Blair High School has won the grand prize in the National Science Bowl, beating 52 other teams from across the country and earning a two-week trip to Australia to attend the International Science School this summer.

The team captured the top title during the national finals for the competition, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and held in Washington, D.C., from April 30 to May 4. More than 9,000 students from 1,800 high schools competed in the regional contests.

The fast-paced tournament used a round-robin format in which students answered questions in chemistry, biology, physics, mathematics, astronomy, earth and computer science.

The Blair team members are: 12th grade students Manish Gala, Andy Mills, Jacob Paul and Kaushik Roy; and 11th grader Jason Rubenstein. The team's coach is Tran Pham, a chemistry and mathematics teacher in the school's magnet program.

The 53 teams advanced to the national finals after winning regional science bowls competitions held throughout the country from late January to early March. The first-place team from each region then represented the region and the sponsor at the national competition.