Winners of the 27th annual Colorado Math Olympiad at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs were announced April 30 during an on-campus awards ceremony attended by university and Colorado Springs dignitaries.
About 175 middle and high school students from Colorado, and as far away as Alabama, participated in the XXVII Colorado Mathematical Olympiad April 23 on campus. The students tackled five-mending problems and presented essay-style solutions during the four-hour contest.
Judges awarded the following honors:
First prize.
Allan Gardner, Colorado Springs, a junior at Air Academy High School. He received a gold medal, a $1,000 scholarship, and a $1,000 UCCS Chancellor’s Scholarship. Gardner also won first prize in the 2009 competition.
Second prize.
Christopher Guthrie, a junior from Fairview High School, Boulder. He received a silver medal, a $1,000 scholarship and a $1,000 UCCS Chancellor’s Scholarship.
Third prize.
Margaret Koehler, a senior from Lewis-Palmer High School, Monument
David Wise, a junior from The Classical Academy, Colorado Springs
Ben Alpert, a junior from Fairview High School, Boulder
Third prize winners received bronze medals, a $1,000 UCCS Chancellor’s Scholarship.
First Honorable Mentions. 12 students earned first honorable mention awards. They were: John Balan, sophomore, Widefield High School; Artem Bolshakov, freshman, Ridgeview Classical Schools, Fort Collins; Andrew Cook, senior, Ponderosa High School, Parker; James Gapinski, junior, Mesa Ridge High School, Colorado Springs; Taylor Goodrich, sophomore, Ponderosa High School, Parker; Ceili Kirkaldie, senior, Doherty High School; Colorado Springs; Rachel Phillips, freshman, Widefield High School; Peter Rottenborn, junior, St. Mary’s High School; Colorado Springs; Albert Soh, grade eight, Summit Middle Charter School, Boulder; Charles Xu, junior, Fairview High School, Boulder; and Jesse Zhange, grade seven, Southern Hills Middle School, Boulder.
Second Honorable Mentions. Ten students were awarded second honorable mentions. They were: Kevin Chen, freshman, Fairview High School, Boulder; Jasper Dunn, grade eight, Aurora Quest K-8 (APS); Zebulon Farmer, sophomore, Manitou Springs High School; Akash Gaonker, grade seven, Aurora Quest K-8 (APS); Brian Bapinski, senior, Mesa Ridge High School, Colorado Springs; Robert Iriye, grade seven, Aurora Quest K-8 (APS); David Lovato, sophomore, Widefield High School; William Palma, sophomore, St. Mary’s High School; Colorado Springs; Andrew Shugart, senior, Ponderosa High School; Parker; and Karin Van Hegewald, grade eight, Aurora Quest K-8 (APS). Landy Sun, junior, Murphy High School, Mobile, Ala.
Literary Award. Dawit Gebresellassie, grade eight, Aurora Quest K-8 (APS).
In the 27 years of Colorado Mathematical Olympiad, about 17,000 students have participated. They have written over 85,000 essays, and were awarded some $270,000 in prizes. The Olympiad is a unique joint effort of school districts, schools, institutions of higher education, business community and local and State governments
Larry Small, vice mayor, City of Colorado Springs, Pam Shockley-Zalabak, chancellor, UCCS, Thomas Christensen, dean, UCCS College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, Greg Hoffman, director of human resources, Intermap Technologies Inc., Maggie Lopez, assistant auperintendent, Colorado Springs School District 20; and Alexander Soifer, chair, Colorado Mathematical Olympiad attended the awards ceremony.
Each year prize winners are awarded such items as calculators, books, computer software, and college scholarships for the top placements. This year’s prize funds were donated by Intermap Technologies, Inc., Casio, Inc., Wolfram Research, City of Colorado Springs, Air Academy School District 20, Colorado Springs School District 11, Manitou Springs School District 14, Falcon School District 49, Widefield School District 3, Silva Chang and Bradley Alpert, and various UCCS departments.
For details, information and sample questions of the Mathematical Olympiad, please visit http://www.uccs.edu/olympiad. The XXVIII Colorado Math Olympiad is scheduled for April 22, 2011.
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 34 bachelor’s degrees, 19 master’s and five doctoral degrees. The campus enrolls about 8,500 students annually.