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After dominating Rose-Hulman Institute of
Technology’s annual high school mathematics competition for the ninth
straight year, students from Terre Haute South High School may be
looking for bigger challenges in the near future.
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Nine In A Row: Students from Terre Haute South High School
were proud of their first place overall title in this year's
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Mathematics Competition
-- the ninth straight year as champions. Team members
included (front row, from left) Yu Huang, Harleen Kaur and
Jessica Wright. In the middle row (from left) are Brennan
Chung, Arun Theertham, E.G. Wright, John Ryan, Sangeeth
Jeevan and Coach Mae Turner White. In the back row (from
left) are Matt Kendall, Josh Gorrell, Arjun Theertham,
Sachin Shinde, Dustin Morris, Neelesh Shah and Joseph Botros.
There were several team members that missed the team
picture. |
Teachers and other school officials are looking
at other collegiate competitions, including a possible February contest
organized by Harvard-Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, to
test the problem-solving skills of their academic achievers.
“We have to keep looking for new challenges for
these students, because they keep us (teachers) on our toes,” admits
Terre Haute South mathematics teacher Mae Turner White, who coaches the
mathematics team, appropriately nicknamed Mathletes Extraordinaire.
“They’re the best group of students in the world and we need to give
these students a chance to showcase those talents on as big of a stage
that we can.”
Most of South’s upper class students have
already taken all of the mathematics courses available in the school’s
curriculum and are taking advanced-level mathematics study sessions with
professors at Indiana State University and Rose-Hulman.
Sachin Shinde, this year’s sophomore champion,
is currently taking a senior-level Statistics course and may be
enrolling in college-level courses in discrete mathematics or numbers
theory next year, well before earning his diploma.
"I’m always looking for new problems to solve
and new challenges to conquer,” said Shinde, who is contemplating a
career in mathematics or engineering.
White also proudly pointed out that members of
South’s Math Team spend several hours each week volunteering as math and
science tutors at the Charles T. Hyte Community Center.
"It’s encouraging to see these exceptional
students sitting down and working with a first grader who is having
trouble reciting the alphabet or a third grader trying to recite the
multiplication table,” the teacher said. “These students are giving
back and trying to make a difference in this community. A victory at
the Rose-Hulman Math Contest is certainly nice and should be
congratulated, but I’m more proud of these students’ achievements as
individuals in the community.”
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Shonk Award
Winners: Students receiving the Sally Shonk Award for having
the top male and female scores in the freshman class were
Shi-Ke Xue of Iowa City West, Mikika Prabhu of West
Lafayette and Richard Ni of Park Tudor. Presenting the
awards were Allen Broughton, head of Rose-Hulman Institute
of Technology's Department of Mathematics (left) and Michael
DeVasher, visiting assistant professor of mathematics. The
award honors Shonk, a former Vigo County (Ind.) teacher. |
Excellence in the junior and sophomore class
divisions was the key to South’s 178-point margin over arch nemesis Iowa
City West and Indianapolis’ Park Tudor in this year’s Rose-Hulman
contest.
Junior Pardha Ponugoti correctly solved all 20
problems to be one of only two students to post a perfect 100-point
score. He was forced to share first place honors in the junior class
with former Honey Creek Middle School MATHCOUNTS teammate David
Benjamin, who now attends Lafayette Harrison High School. Also
excelling in the junior class were Raj Bhuptani, second; and Arun
Theertham, ninth.
South students posted three of the top four
scores in the sophomore class division, with Shinde taking first place
with a near-perfect 95-point score. John Ryan was one point behind in
second and Peter Bittar was third. Eesha Purhoit was eighth and Andrew
Huh was ninth in the class.
E.G. Wright of South tied for fourth place
among seniors.
And, the pipeline of talent continues with this
year’s freshman class, with three students in the top seven place
finishers: Matt Kendall, fourth; Jessica Wright, sixth; and Joseph
Botros, seventh.
In its 42nd year, the Rose-Hulman competition is
one of the largest high school math contests in the Midwest, attracting
more than 450 students from 28 schools in Indiana, Illinois and Iowa.
The 20-problem exam was also administered in Cincinnati, St. Louis and
northern Kentucky.
The contest is unique in that students compete
for individual and team honors in their class divisions. Then, scores
in each class are added to determine the overall school champion.
Carmel topped the senior class division while
Park Tudor took home first place honors in the freshman class.
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Rhein Award
Winners: Sachin Shinde of Terre Haute South and Lauren
Stephens of Indianapolis North Central received book prizes
for being the sophomore male and female finishers in this
year's Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology High School
Mathematics Competition. Presenting the awards were Allen
Broughton, head of Rose-Hulman's Department of Mathematics,
and Cara Brooks, assistant professor of mathematics. The
prizes were in memory of Mary Rhein, a teacher who
coordinated the contest in West Chester, Ohio, for several
years. |
Individually, Mihika Prabhu of West Lafayette
High School, Richard Ni of Park Tudor and Shi-Ke Xue of Iowa City West
received book prizes for being the top freshman male and female
students. The prizes were provided in memory of Sally Shonk, a former
Vigo County teacher. Shinde and Lauren Stephens of Indianapolis North
Central received book prizes for being the sophomore male and female
finishers. The prizes werein memory of Mary Rhein,
a teacher who coordinated the contest in West Chester, Ohio, for several
years.
Nate Rehfuss of Iowa City West was this year’s
senior class champion, narrowly out-scoring defending division champion
John Zhong of Carmel.
Other competing Indiana schools included Castle,
Covenant Christian, Crawfordsville, Fishers, Hamilton Southeastern, the
Indiana Academy, Lafayette Jefferson, the Lutheran School, North
Daviess, North Newton, North Vermillion, Northview, Perry Meridian, Scecina, the Signature School of
Evansville, Terre Haute North and West Lafayette. Champaign’s Central and Urbana high
schools represented Illinois. Students from Terre Haute's Honey
Creek Middle School also took the test but weren't eligible for
individual or team awards.
Rose-Hulman mathematics professor John Rickert
coordinates the contest, with test questions compiled by professor
emeritus Herb Bailey. Other professors assisting are Allen Broughton,
Michael Barg, Cara Brooks, Bill Butske, Michael DeVasher, Andrea Dziubek,
Diane Evans, David Finn, Steve Galinaitis, Joshua Holden, Tanya Jajcay,
Roger Lautzenheiser and John Massman, while Mathematics Department
Secretary Terri Moscan organized registration. Members of Rose-Hulman's
Pi Mu Epsilon mathematics honor society and other student volunteers
assist with grading the tests.
Information about this year’s contest can be
obtained at the following Web site:
www.rose-hulman.edu/%7Erickert/NovContest/.
42nd Annual Rose-Hulman
Mathematics Contest
Saturday, November 10 at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Overall Team Scores: 1. Terre Haute South,
1,161; 2. Iowa City West, 983; 3. Park Tudor, 922
Senior Team Scores: 1. Carmel, 329; 2. Iowa City
West, 291; 3. Terre Haute South, 271 Senior Individual Scores: 1. Nate Rehfuss, Iowa City West, 89; 2. John Zhong, Carmel, 88; 3. Xingping Shen,
Carmel, 83; 4. E.G. Wright, Terre Haute South, 82; 4. Tyler Zou, Carmel,
82; 5. Matthew Croop, Indianapolis North Central, 79; 5. Chenfei Wang,
Carmel, 79; 6. Gray Thomas, Iowa City West, 78; 7. Kevin Kim, Carmel,
76; 7. Devin Taylor, Castle, 76; 8. Casey Lecklider, Signature School,
74; 9. Jim Caraher, Crawfordsville, 73; 9. Jong Ho You, Lutheran, 73;
10. Tom Schroeder, Park Tudor, 72; 11. Curie Ahn, Iowa City West, 70;
12. Jun Chen, Indiana Academy, 69; 12. Will Zhang, Carmel, 69.
Junior Team Scores: 1. Terre Haute South, 312;
2. Indianapolis North Central, 275; 3. Indiana Academy, 268
Junior Individual Scores: 1. David Benjamin,
Lafayette Harrison, 100; 1. Pardha Ponugoti, Terre Haute South,
100; 2. Raj Bhuptani, Terre Haute South, 84; 3. Jessica Fisher, Park
Tudor, 82; 3. Ruofan Xia, Indiana Academy, 82; 4. David Yang, Carmel,
80; 5. Anton Goupinets, Iowa City West, 79; 6. Katherine Horn,
Indianapolis North Central, 78; 7. Ryan Clodfelter, Indianapolis North
Central, 73; 8. Ian Goller, Fishers; 72; 8. Yingxue Li, Carmel, 72; 9.
Arun Theertham, Terre Haute South, 71; 10. Caroline Huang, Park Tudor,
70; 10. Thane Somers, Iowa City West, 70; 11. Raphael-Joel Lim, Indiana
Academy, 66; 11. Andy Vissing, Hamilton Southeastern, 66; 11. Amanda
Williams, Castle, 66; 12. Michelle Haby, Lafayette Jefferson, 65.
Sophomore Team Scores: 1. Terre Haute South,
339; 2. Carmel, 272; 3. Iowa City West, 259 Sophomore Individual Scores:
1. Sachin Shinde, Terre Haute South, 95; 2. Nathan Benjamin, Lafayette
Harrison, 94; 2. John Ryan, Terre Haute South, 94; 3. Peter Bittar,
Terre Haute South, 84; 3. Shawn Qian, Carmel, 84; 4. Lauren Stephens,
Indianapolis North Central, 83; 5. Lorelei Coffin, Iowa City West, 80;
6. Tyler Chenhall, Iowa City West, 77; 7. Jimmy Sun, Carmel, 72; 8.
Eesha Purohit, Terre Haute South, 68; 9. Andrew Huh, Terre Haute South,
66; 10. Anthony Cai, Carmel, 64; 10. Kathleen Hu, Fishers, 64; 10.
Cezary Wojcik, Signature School, 64; 11. Dongyun Lee, Hamilton
Southeastern, 62; 11. Harrison Zhao, Fishers, 62; 12. Leah Dong, Urbana,
60.
Freshman Team Scores: 1. Park Tudor, 270; 2.
Terre Haute South, 239; 3. Castle, 193 Freshman Individual Scores: 1. Mihika Prabhu, West Lafayette, 84; 2. Richard Ni, Park Tudor, 82; 2.
Shi-Ke Xue, Iowa City West, 82; 3. Soo-Hyun-Yoo, Lafayette Jefferson,
78; 4. Matt Kendall, Terre Haute South, 77; 5. Jeffrey Shen, 76; 6.
Jessica Wright, Terre Haute South, 68; 7. Joseph Botros, Terre Haute
South, 66; 8. Bosi Zhang, Hamilton Southeastern, 64; 9. Drew Herrmann,
Hamilton Southeastern, 63; 10. Sawyer Morgan, Hamilton Southeastern, 62;
11. Samuel Clarke, Park Tudor, 59; 12. Abby Drumm, Fishers, 58. |
