Winners of the 26th annual Colorado Math Olympiad at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs were announced April 24 during an on-campus awards ceremony.
Due to a heavy spring snow storm, this year’s Olympiad on April 17, drew 37 middle and high school students from across Colorado to UCCS to tackle the five mind-bending math problems and present essay-style solutions.
Judges awarded first place to Allan Gardner, a sophomore from the math class of Doug James, St. Mary’s High School in Colorado Springs. This is the first time in 26 years that the victory has gone to a student from a private school. Gardner received a gold medal of the Olympiad, a $1,500 scholarship, a $1,000 UCCS Chancellor’s Scholarship, “The Mathematical Coloring Book: Mathematics of Coloring and the Colorful Life of Its Creators”, a CASIO watch, the software “Mathematica for Students” v7 and Spiky Ball – both from Wolfram Research.
David Wise, a sophomore from The Classical Academy, Colorado Springs, was awarded second prize. He received a silver medal of the Olympiad, a $500 scholarship, a $1,000 UCCS Chancellor’s Scholarship, and other prizes.
Third prize went to Michael Morton, a senior from Rangely High School, Rangely. He received a bronze medal of the Olympiad, a $500 scholarship, a $1,000 UCCS Chancellor’s Scholarship for CMO Medalists, and other prizes.
Fourth prizes were presented to: Ben Alpert and Charles Xu, sophomores from Fairview High School, Boulder. Ryan Beethe, a junior from Poudre High School, Fort Collins; and Aaron Lear, a junior from Fort Collins High School. All received the book “Colorado Mathematical Olympiad: The First Ten Years and Further Explorations” by Alexander Soifer, a CASIO Graphing Calculator, software “Mathematica for Students” v7 and Spiky Ball – both from Wolfram Research.
First Honorable Mentions were awarded to the following 11 contestants: Alex Black, a freshman, Chris Guthrie, a sophomore, and seniors Mutian Yao and Jeremy Young — all from Fairview High School, Boulder; Margaret Koehler, a junior from Lewis-Palmer High School, Monument; Artem Bolshakov, an eighth grader from Liberty Common School, Fort Collins; Tian Tan, a senior, and Kevin Wu, a junior, both from Murphy High School in Mobile, Alabama; Albert Soh, a seventh grader, Jesse Zhang, a sixth grader, both from Summit Middle Charter School, Boulder; and Shuli Song, a junior from The Classical Academy, Colorado Springs. Prizes included the book “Colorado Mathematical Olympiad: The First Ten Years and Further Explorations”, a Casio scientific calculator, and the software “Mathematica for Students” v7 and Spiky Ball – both from Wolfram Research.
Second Honorable Mentions were awarded to the following 10 contestants: freshmen Cissy Chen, Will Conway and Nicolas Ledru, all from Fairview High School; Joseph Mortensen, a senior from Fort Collins High School; Lin Zhong, a senior from Murphy High School; Mark Walth, a junior from Palmer High School; Justin Prosser, a sophomore from Rangely High School; Samantha Chavez, a freshman from Sand Creek High School; Rachel Philips, an eighth grader from Sproul Middle School; and James Gapinski, a sophomore from Mesa Ridge High School. All received the book “Colorado Mathematical Olympiad: The First Ten Years and Further Explorations, and the software “Mathematica for Students” v7 and Spiky Ball – both from Wolfram Research.
In the 26 years of the Colorado Mathematical Olympiad, more than 16,500 students have participated. They have written more than 84,000 essays and received some $260,000 in prizes. The Olympiad is a unique joint effort of school districts, schools, institutions of higher education, business and both local and state government.
The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs located on Austin Bluffs Parkway in Colorado Springs, is one of the fastest growing universities in the nation. The University offers 30 bachelor’s degrees, 19 master’s and four doctoral degrees. The campus enrolls about 8,000 students annually.