COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Winners of the 31st annual Colorado Math Olympiad at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs were announced May 2 during a campus award ceremony attended by university, Colorado Springs and school district representatives.
252 middle and high school students from Colorado and the Alabama School of Mathematics and Science, Mobile, Ala., attended the XXXI Colorado Mathematical Olympiad April 25. Participants were presented five problems and four hours to present a complete essay-type solution. The Colorado Math Olympiad is directed by Alexander Soifer, professor, Interdepartmental Studies.
Judges awarded honors to the following individuals
First Prize. First prize was awarded to Jesse Zhang, a junior from Fairview High School, Boulder. He received an Olympiad Gold Medal, a $1,000 scholarship to attend an accredited American university of his choice, a UCCS Chancellor’s Scholarship, two Springer Publishing books including, “The Colorado Mathematical Olympiad: From the Mountains of Colorado to the Peaks of Mathematics” by Alexander Soifer, and a Casio graphing calculator. This is the second consecutive victory for Zhang. He won first prize in the 2013 competition.
Second Prize. Second prize was awarded to Avi Swartz, a freshman from Cherry Creek High School, Greenwood Village. He received an Olympiad silver medal, a $500 scholarship to attend the university of his choice, and a $1,000 UCCS Chancellor’s Scholarship, two Springer Publishing books including “The Colorado Mathematical Olympiad: From the Mountains of Colorado to the Peaks of Mathematics” by Alexander Soifer, and a Casio graphing calculator.
Third Prize. Third prizes were awarded to three students. They are:
- Shawn Ong, a senior from Douglas County High School, Castle Rock.
- William Shand, a sophomore from Discovery Canyon High School, Colorado Springs.
- Jeremy Schiff, a sophomore from Cherry Creek High School, Greenwood Village.
Each received a $1,000 UCCS Chancellor’s Scholarship, two Springer Publishing books including “The Colorado Mathematical Olympiad: From the Mountains of Colorado to the Peaks of Mathematics” by Alexander Soifer, and a Casio graphing calculator.
First Honorable Mention. First Honorable Mention awards were earned by 26 students. They are:
- Isani Singh, grade 8, Challenge School, Denver.
- Vincent Morgan, grade 8, Aurora Quest K-8, Aurora.
- Christine Soh, sophomore, Fairview High School, Boulder.
- Casey Zhang, sophomore, Fairview High School, Boulder.
- Rachael Maes, grade 8, West Middle School, Colorado Springs.
- Gwyneth Ormes, grade 8, West Middle School, Colorado Springs.
- Abigail Miranda, grade 7, West Middle School, Colorado Springs.
- Michael Catchen, junior, Cheyenne Mountain High School, Colorado Springs.
- Haoran Du, junior, Colorado Springs School, Colorado Springs.
- Vladimir Zhdanow, freshman, Discovery Canyon High School, Colorado Springs.
- Aaron Ghrist, freshman, Discovery Canyon High School, Colorado Springs.
- Amy Wang, freshman, Pine Creek High School, Colorado Springs.
- Li Quian Peng, junior, Rampart High School, Colorado Springs.
- Sarah Gao, grade 7, Campus Middle School, Greenwood Village.
- Erik Svenneby, grade 8, Challenge School, Denver.
- Anjalie Kini, grade 7, Challenge School, Denver.
- Lubin Deng, junior, Cherry Creek High School, Englewood.
- Andrew Ying, freshman, Cherry Creek High School, Englewood.
- Austen Mazenko, grade 6, Campus Middle School, Greenwood Village.
- Luke Zhang, grade 8, Rocky Heights Middle School, Highlands Ranch.
- Morgan Roegner, grade 7, West Middle School, Colorado Springs.
- Nina Vendham, sophomore, Kent Denver School, Englewood.
- Aaron Lou, freshman, Highlands Ranch High School, Highlands Ranch.
- Kevin Wang, freshman, Fairview High School, Boulder.
- Noah Poirson, junior, Alabama School of Math and Science, Mobile, Ala.
- Andrew Morton, senior, Rangely High School, Rangely.
Each received the book “A New Kind of Science” by Stephen Wolfram, the book “How Does One Cut a Triangle” by Alexander Soifer and a Casio graphing calculator.
Second Honorable Mention. Second Honorable Mention awards were earned by 57 students. They are:
- Austin Layne, grade 8, Aurora Quest K-8, Aurora.
- Justin Gardner, grade 8, Aurora Quest K-8, Aurora
- Levi Robinsons, grade 8, Aurora Quest K-8, Aurora
- Kai Sander, grade 7, Aurora Quest K-8, Aurora
- Adrianna Garcia, grade 7, Aurora Quest K-8, Aurora
- Yuchen Zhang, grade 7, Aurora Quest K-8, Aurora
- Hayes Ward, grade 8, Aurora Quest K-8, Aurora
- Vanessa Maldanado, grade 8, Aurora Quest K-8, Aurora
- Lydia Jameson, grade 8, Aurora Quest K-8, Aurora
- Abbie Hill, grade 7, Aurora Quest K-8, Aurora
- Bryan Fierro, grade 8, Aurora Quest K-8, Aurora
- Max Haynes, grade 8, Aurora Quest K-8, Aurora
- Kiara Leslie, grade 8, Aurora Quest K-8, Aurora
- Pranit Nanda, grade 8, Aurora Quest K-8, Aurora
- Neha Cheruku, grade 6, Aurora Quest K-8, Aurora
- Curtis Worthy, grade 8, Aurora Quest K-8, Aurora
- Lauren Zugelder, grade 8, Aurora Quest K-8, Aurora
- Meghana Yarlagadda, grade 7, West Middle School, Colorado Springs.
- Tim Bauer, grade 8, West Middle School, Colorado Springs.
- Nathan Mariska, grade 6, West Middle School, Colorado Springs.
- Antonia Lam, grade 7, West Middle School, Colorado Springs.
- Nicholas Shampoe, grade 8, Discovery Canyon Campus, Colorado Springs.
- Molly Merkert, junior, William J. Palmer High School, Colorado Springs.
- Jessica Shand, freshman, Discovery Canyon High School, Colorado Springs.
- Claudia Chen, grade 7, Challenger Middle School, Colorado Springs.
- Mohit Bhat, grade 7, Mountain Ridge Middle School, Colorado Springs.
- Ria Paradkar, grade 8, Mountain Ridge Middle School, Colorado Springs.
- Ibrahim Khan, grade 7, Mountain Ridge Middle School, Colorado Springs.
- Ben Bancroft, grade 6, Mountain Ridge Middle School, Colorado Springs.
- Tyler Walker, grade 8, Mountain Ridge Middle School, Colorado Springs.
- Emily Chang, grade 7, Mountain Ridge Middle School, Colorado Springs.
- Blake Biskner, senior, Doherty High School, Colorado Springs.
- Nicholas Lin, freshman, Fossil Ridge High School, Fort Collins.
- Aurora Ortman, grade 8, Galileo Middle School, Colorado Springs.
- Samuel Vallado, freshman, Discovery Canyon High School, Colorado Springs.
- Blake Laurie, junior, Discovery Canyon High School, Colorado Springs.
- Andrew Jeseritz, freshman, Discovery Canyon High School, Colorado Springs.
- Mark Reininger, sophomore, Discovery Canyon High School, Colorado Springs.
- Phitina Tran, junior, Doherty High School, Colorado Springs.
- Michael Kempton, Doherty High School, Colorado Springs.
- Taylor Carroll, junior, Pine Creek High School, Colorado Springs.
- Mike Zhang, junior, Pine Creek High School, Colorado Springs.
- Chang Hong, junior, Pine Creek High School, Colorado Springs.
- George Liu, freshman, The Classical Academy, Colorado Springs.
- Michael Melton, grade 8, Aurora Quest K-8, Aurora.
- Elizabeth Resendiz, grade 8, Aurora Quest K-8, Aurora.
- Andres Marquez, grade 8, Aurora Quest K-8, Aurora.
- Eric Wu, senior, Alabama School of Mathematics and Science, Mobile, Ala.
- Koby Chan, sophomore, Lewis Palmer High School, Monument.
- Jonathon Smith, Grand Valley High School, Parachute.
- Russell Fladeland, sophomore, Grand Valley High School, Parachute.
- Aubrey Schafer, grade 7, Skyview Academy, Highlands Ranch.
- Sebastian Sanchez, grade 8, Skyview Academy, Highlands Ranch.
- Amanda Nelson, grade 8, North Star Academy, Parker.
- Tessa Slagle, senior, Rangely High School, Rangely.
- Caleb Noel, grade 8, Rangely High School, Rangely.
- Gavin Peterson, grade 8, Aurora Quest K-8, Aurora. Peterson was also recognized with a Historical Explorer Award for his essay on the history and geography of Ukraine.
Each received a copy of the book “Mathematics as Problem Solving” by Alexander Soifer, a Casio scientific calculator and a Wolfram Research Spikey Ball.
In more than 30 years of Colorado Mathematical Olympiad competition, more than 18,000 students have participated and they have written more than 90,000 essays and received more than $335,000 in prizes. The Colorado Mathematical Olympiad is a unique, joint effort of school districts, schools, institutions of higher learning, businesses and state government.
For more details and sample questions of the Mathematical Olympiad, please visit http://www.uccs.edu/olympiad. The XXXII Colorado Mathematical Olympiad is scheduled for April 24, 2015
The University of Colorado Colorado Springs, located on Austin Bluffs Parkway in Colorado Springs, is one of the fastest growing universities in Colorado. The university offers 37 bachelor’s degrees, 19 master’s and five doctoral degrees. UCCS enrolls about 10,500 students on campus annually and another 2,000 in online programs. For more information, visit www.uccs.edu.