Researchers have begun tracking a group of high ability high school students from high school into college study. These students indicated an interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) content areas, and specifically ocean sciences, through participation in a regional or national academic competition in high school--The National Ocean Sciences Bowl. Of interest to the funding community for this national science education program is whether participation in the competition provides support for moving and motivating these students into and through the STEM career pipeline. Results after this first year indicate promise for linking academic competitions at the secondary level to students' selections of related post-secondary education programs. This suggests that co-curricular and extra-curricular science activities may in fact be more important than enhancements to or participation in secondary science classes as a recruitment factor for the STEM pipeline. This paper represents the first publication of the results of this federally funded research study.