November 15, 2004

Terre Haute South Students Once Again Showcase
Math Skills By Winning Rose-Hulman Math Contest

Terre Haute South scholars once again showcased their problem solving abilities by winning the 39th Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology High School Mathematics Competition on Saturday. This marks the sixth straight year that the school has won the contest, which is one of the largest of its kind in the Midwest.

Top Freshmen: E.G. Wright of Terre Haute South High School and Kristina Throne of Honey Creek Middle School were honored for having the top male and female scores in the freshman class division of this year's Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology High School Mathematics Competition. Congratulating the students were Rose-Hulman Math Professor Ken McMurdy (left) and Allen Broughton, chair of the college's Department of Mathematics.

Approximately 475 scholars from 26 high schools in Indiana and Illinois had one hour to complete 20 questions in a wide range of mathematics categories. Students competed for individual and team honors in their class divisions. The scores of four designated students made up each team’s class score. Other students could compete as alternates, but their scores did not count for the team title.

The quality of Terre Haute South’s team was shown in the fact that the school amassed 1,184 points (first place) while winning only one of the four class divisions (juniors) and only one of the individual class titles (freshman). Twelve South students earned individual honors in the competition.

“Our students just love to do math and compete,” stated Terre Haute South Mathematics Teacher Mona Sternfeld, in her first year as the school’s math adviser. “It’s obvious that practice pays off. It’s amazing to me (as a teacher) that whenever I give the students extra math problems to take home, that they have them done the next day. And, they’re ready for more.

“Of course, we’re delighted with the (first place) performance. The students did really well and should be proud of their efforts. They have been trained since an early age to solve challenging problems,” she said.

Carmel was a close second, with 1,035 points, while Park Tudor of Indianapolis placed third, with 988 points.

Terre Haute South’s E.G. Wright was the top individual performer in the freshman division. He joined second-place finisher Kristina Throne of Honey Creek Middle School for being honored as the top male and female freshmen competitors. Both received a trophy and book prizes, provided in memory of Sally Shonk, a former Vigo County teacher. This year's books were "A History of Mathematics: An Introduction," by Victor J. Katz, and "The Universal History of Numbers," by Georges Ifrah.

Perfect scores posted by competitors kept South students from taking top honors in the other age divisions. Rosemary Luo was second to Scott Pollom of Indianapolis Cathedral (last year’s junior champion) among seniors; Tiffany Ko placed second to Charles Tam of the Indiana Academy among juniors; and Susan Hu was second to Michael Harris of Park Tudor among sophomores.

Other top scores by South students were posted by Kate Goeller, third in the junior division; Emily Zhao, fourth among sophomores; Daniel Fox, fourth among juniors; James Powell, sixth in the senior class; Jessica Ji, eighth among juniors; Yu Chen, 10th in the sophomore division; Peter Duong and John Gorrell, 11th and 12th, respectively, among freshmen.

South’s strong performances in the Rose-Hulman competition may continue well into the future, since several Honey Creek Middle School students also shined as at-large participants in the freshman division. In fact, as a group, the school’s team would have won the division, if eligible for team honors. Honey Creek students following Throne’s second place finish were Sachin Shinde, third; Parda Ponugotti, fourth; Nolan Skochdopole, sixth; Raj Bhuptani, eighth; and Andrew Huh, 10th.

Wabash Valley schools joining Terre Haute South and Honey Creek in the contest were Terre Haute North, West Vigo and South Vermillion. Greg Pelkie of North was 10th in the senior class division.

Other Indiana schools competing included Arensal Tech, Ben Davis, Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School, Broad Ripple, Covenant Christian School, Lutheran, North Central and The Sycamore School, all of Indianapolis; Bloomington South, Castle of Newburgh, Crawfordsville, Greenfield Central, Hamilton Southeastern of Fishers, the Kokomo Area Schools at Home (KASH) and North Newton of Morocco. Champaign Central and Urbana high schools, both of Illinois, also competed this year.

Rose-Hulman mathematics professors Ralph Grimaldi and Joshua Holden coordinated the contest, with test questions compiled by professor emeritus Herb Bailey. Other professors assisting were Allen Broughton, Diane Evans, Jeffery Leader, Chris Leisner, Steve Galinaitis, Ken McMurdy and Brian Martensen, while Mathematics Department Secretary Terri Moscan organized registration. Members of Rose-Hulman's Pi Mu Epsilon mathematics honor society and student volunteers assisted with grading the tests.

39th Annual Rose-Hulman Mathematics Contest
Saturday, November 13
at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Overall Team Scores: 1. Terre Haute South, 1,184; 2. Carmel, 1,035; 3. Park Tudor, 988

Senior Team Scores: 1. Indiana Academy, 326; 2. Terre Haute South, 319; 3. Cathedral, 294

Senior Individual Scores: 1. Scott Pollom, Cathedral, 100; 2. Rosemary Luo, Terre Haute South, 95; 3. David Benjamin, Honey Creek, 94; 4. Mason Smith, Indiana Academy, 90; 5. Aaron Dinkeldine, KASH, 88; 6. James Powell, Terre Haute South, 83; 7. Fern Sha, Indiana Academy, 82; 7. Aviad Rubinstein, Bloomington South, 82; 8. Aaron Hershberger, Hamilton Southeastern, 79; 9. Matt McCrea, Indiana Academy, 78; 10. Greg Pelkie, Terre Haute North, 77; 10. Charles Hutjens, Champaign Central, 77; 11. David Yust, Indiana Academy, 76; Brandon George, 74.

Junior Team Scores: 1. Terre Haute South, 335; 2. Carmel, 287; 3. Urbana, 271 Junior Individual Scores: 1. Charles Tam, Indiana Academy, 100; 2. Tiffany Ko, Terre Haute South, 94; 2. Fan Huang, Urbana, 94; 3. Kate Goeller, Terre Haute South, 90; 3. Nan Lin, Ben Davis, 90; 4. Daniel Fox, Terre Haute South, 89; 5. Jessica Ranucci, Park Tudor, 82; 6. Fernanda Mendes, Urbana, 80; 7. Peter Kim, Carmel, 78; 7. Joshua Hutchins, Carmel, 78; 7. David Tidd, Carmel, 78; 8. Eric Seo, Champaign Central, 77; 8. Jessica Ji, Terre Haute South, 77; 9. Luke Xie, Carmel, 73; 10. Fletcher Heisler, Park Tudor, 71; 11. Jack Zhang, Indiana Academy, 70; 12. Chang Lee, 69.

Sophomore Team Scores: 1. Park Tudor, 298; 2. Terre Haute South, 282; 3. Carmel, 271 Sophomore Individual Scores: 1. Michael Harris, Park Tudor, 100; 2. Susan Hu, Terre Haute South, 94; 3. Andy Chen, Carmel, 79; 4. Emily Zhao, Terre Haute South, 78; 5. Stephen Wolf, Hamilton Southeastern, 76; 6. Artem Rogachev, Urbana, 74; 7. Hao Yang, Carmel, 73; 8. Ravi Parikh, Park Tudor, 71; 9. David Li, Carmel, 68; 10. Kentaro Matsuoka, Park Tudor, 64; 10. Sean O’Banyel, Arsenal Tech, 64; 10. Yu Chen, Terre Haute South, 64; 11. Junghyun Wee, Urbana, 63; 11. Alex Scherer, Park Tudor, 63; 12. Kenneth Kang, Carmel, 61.

Freshman Team Scores: 1. Carmel, 271; 2. Terre Haute South, 248; 3. Park Tudor, 196

Freshman Individual Scores: 1. E.G. Wright, Terre Haute South, 85; 2. Kristina Throne, Honey Creek, 79; 3. Nathan Benjamin, Honey Creek, 78; 3. Sachin Shinde, Honey Creek, 78; 3. Matthew Croop, North Central, 78; 4. Parda Ponugoti, Honey Creek, 77; 5. Tyler Zou, Carmel, 74; 6. Nolan Skochdopole, Honey Creek, 73; 7. Zingping Shen, Carmel, 72; 8. Raj Bhuptani, Honey Creek, 71; 9. John Zhong, Carmel, 70; 10. Andrew Huh, Honey Creek, 69; 11. Peter Duong, Terre Haute South, 61; 11. Tom Schroeder, Park Tudor, 61; 12. John Gorrell, Terre Haute South, 60.