DESERT HIGH STUDENT EARNS SCIENCE AWARD CODY LEWIS WINS 1ST PLACE.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE - The fourth time was the charm for Desert High School junior Cody Lewis, 16, who brought home a first-place medal from the 2003 California State Science Fair.

The Rosaland resident, who competed at the last three state science fairs, garnered the top honor in mammalian biology, winning $500, for an experiment showing that classmates - and his mother - improved their jumping ability by practicing throwing 8.8-pound medicine balls backward over their heads.

``After 15 weeks, my male test subject group went up two inches. My female test subject group went up 1.8 inches,'' Cody said.

His mother did better than average, increasing her jump 2 1/2 inches.

The state's 52nd annual science fair was held May 19 and 20, and 943 students competed for the awards totaling $50,000.

Cody previously competed in the categories of environmental engineering and behavioral science.

The title of Cody's project this year was ``Utilizing Counter Movement Medicine Ball Throws to Increase Counter Movement Vertical Jump Heights.'' His project adviser was his mother, Debbie Lewis, who is the biology and anatomy teacher at Desert High as well as a volleyball coach. His father, a Lockheed Martin electrical engineer, is also a volleyball coach.

``It's extremely hard to place in state. We took 13 students and brought home one medal, Cody's. Last year we took about the same number and brought home an honorable mention,'' Debbie Lewis said.

``If you get one medal at state, it's incredible,'' she said. ``Usually if we can get one medal it was worth going. To get a first-place medal is icing on the cake.''

Cody came up with the experiment idea while looking for an experiment connected with volleyball. He found a medical research journal article that compared a move called the ``counter movement vertical jump'' in volleyball to the backward medicine-ball throw, or ``countermovement medicine-ball throw.''

In a countermovement vertical jump, a person starts with his hands raised shoulder height, brings them down to waist level, leans over, then thrusts his arms upward to put more power into the jump,

``I made my own experiment. I used the medicine ball throw, which is the same movement as the jump, and by doing that ... they were able to raise vertical jump heights.''

Cody's volunteer test subjects were all students, mostly Desert High athletes, plus his mother. They threw the medicine balls backward over their heads in the school gym. He had them perform 20 throws three times a week.

``My volunteers were awesome. They put in 485 man-hours in the experiment. They came in on 53 days to be tested and to throw balls. There were 18,419 throws, everyone combined,'' Cody said.

Cody said his favorite subject is not science but student law. He said he wants to be a music or math teacher. He plays the clarinet and is in the school band, the High Desert Honor Band, and the Kern County Honor Orchestra.

Karen Maeshiro, [phone]

karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com