Indiana ARML history page


In 1989, Nancy Balle, a teacher at Marion High School in Marion, Indiana organized the first Indiana ARML team. Indiana brought teams to the 1989, 1990, 1991 and 1992 meets. The 1990 team finished ninth in the thirty-one team Division B. (click here for complete standings) In 1992, two teams went to Iowa and competed in Division B.
During those years, assistant coaches included Jon Brice, Dr. George Berzsenyi of the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Dr. John Emert of Ball State University in Muncie, Dr. John Rickert of the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Dr. Brad Brock of the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (now at Pepperdine) and Jonathan Atkins, a member of the 1989 and 1990 teams and 1994 Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology graduate. The mathematics department at Rose-Hulman also provided transportation to the meets.

1994 In 1993, Indiana was unable to send any teams. In November of 1993, while participating in Rose-Hulman's High-School Mathematics Contest, Daniel Biss asked Dr. John Rickert if there would be an Indiana ARML team in 1994. (click here for standings) At that moment, Indiana ARML, incarnation 2, was born. Dr. John Emert and Kim Foltz, of the Indiana Academy for Science, Mathematics and Humanities and Dr. Rickert selected team members from across Indiana based mostly on performance on the American High School Examination and the Rose-Hulman Mathematics Contest. These teachers were aided by parents Joanne Orman, Connie McLaren and Bruce Johnson in Iowa. Fifteen team members and six alternates went to Iowa and competed in Division B. The team tied for twenty-first. The alternates were dispersed among Alternate teams B and C. Three of Indiana's alternates earned medals for achieving a team high score during the Individual round.

1995 For the twentieth meet, Indiana brought two teams. Practices were held during the year at Rose-Hulman and the Indiana Academy for Science, Mathematics and Humanities. Additional support in Iowa was provided by Connie McLaren and Rose-Hulman student Nick Tallyn. Several last minute cancellations caused team B to compete with only 10 members. Indiana A tied for 29th and the depleted Indiana B managed to finished 55th.

1996 In preparation for the twenty-first meet, Zachary Franco, of Butler University, joined the coaching staff and added a valuable Indianapolis practice site. Rose-Hulman students Josh Horstman and Nate Dean attended the meet as assistant coaches and Karen Liu helped with supervisory duties. Indiana's two teams had their most succesful finishes ever. The Indiana Irrationals finished sixth in Division B and won the site award for having the highest Division B score at the Iowa site. The Indiana Imaginaries won the "most improved" award for Division B and were the first team to correctly answer the "Super Relay" question.

1997 The year of the twenty-second meet saw the addition of smaller biweekly practices at Butler University and weekly practices at Rose-Hulman. IUPUI student Josh Mattes and Rose-Hulman students Joe Kidd, Kyle Lacey and Jon Matthews assisted Zac Franco with administration of the Iowa site and parents Chuck Kendall and Henjin Chi helped with supervisory duties. The Indiana students continued their improvement as the Irrationals finished in fourth place in Division B, requiring Indiana to move to Division A for the first time in its history.
Team members Bryce Johnson, Chris Mihelich and Melanie Wood were invited to participate in the US Mathematics Olympiad Training Sessions. Chris and Melanie were accepted in the RSI program at MIT.

1998 The year of the twenty-third meet, saw the addition of a practice site in Evansville administered by Dr. Kim Kirkpatrick of The University of Evansville. The practices at Rose-Hulman were run by Dr. Henjin Chi, of Indiana State University, while John Rickert was on sabbatical. Participant parent Dick Blandford helped with the supervisory duties.
The team continued their improvement as Indiana Gold finished in ninth, their highest finish ever, and were the most improved team at the Iowa site. Melanie Wood became the first person from Indiana to achieve a perfect score in the individual round as she finished second in the run-off. Three members of Indiana Gold scored 7 out of 8 on the individual round; Andrew Chi, Bryce Johnson and Chris Mihelich.
Melanie Wood won first prize in the US Math Olympiad and Chris Mihelich won first prize in the Westinghouse Science Talent Search.

1999 With the graduation of several outstanding students, and a splitting of the Indiana team as the Indinapolis area folks went to Penn State to compete, the Indiana team was supervised by Henjin Chi, John Emert, Kim Foltz, and John Rickert. One parent, Mr. Bullington, went along to help supervise. Kim Kirkpatrick continued the practice sessions held at Evansville during the year.
The Indiana Gold finished in 19th place. Andrew Chi scored another 7, earning recognition as one of the high scores in the nation, and Bill Waite earned honors for his high score. Sylvia Chang was the high scorer for Indiana Blue, which competed with only 13 students.

2000 The Two Indiana teams remerged and sent thirty-five students to Iowa for the twenty-fifth ARML. Along with Henjin Chi, John Emert, Zac France, Kim Foltz, and John Rickert, parents Najia Jin, John McNett, and John Moskal traveled with the teams. The Indiana Gold turned in a solid performance, finishing 14th, as five students tied for the team high score: Andrew Chi, Emily Kendall, Michael Reschly, Bill Waite, and Xiang Yan. Four other students, Jean Broughton, Chris McNett, Christine Nee, and Prashant Tatineni correctly answered one fewer than these leaders. Philip Powell paced the Indiana Blue on the individual round.
Congratualtions to Andrew Chi and Emily Kendall for their acceptance to the RSI program at MIT, and to 1999 team member Michael Catlin, who will participate in the 2000 Mathematics Olympiad Summer Program

In 2001, A record turnout of fifty-five students sent four Indiana teams to Iowa for the twenty-sixth ARML. Along with Henjin Chi, Kim Foltz, and John Rickert, parents Maureen Brustkern, Sheely Chen, Jonathan Fruth, Najia Jin, Steven Maynard, and Carlos Mendes traveled with the teams.
Indiana Gold tied with Ontario A for 11th, their second best finish ever. Andrew Chi earned a national honor score, scoring 7 out of 8 on the individual round for the third time. Michael Catlin and Jerry Wu were awarded team high score medals. Max Brustkern earned the individual high score medal for the Indiana Blue, which finished tied for forty-fourth in Division B. Indiana Silver placed 66th in Division B and was paced by Ho Young Whang during the inidividual round. Allan Patterson and Michael Peregrim earned high score honors for the Indiana Red, which finished 75th in Division B.

In 2002, Indiana sent three teams, consisting of forty students to the twenty-seventh ARML. Along with coaches Henjin Chi, Josh Holden, Ron Ji, and John Rickert, parents Frank Ko, Susanna Ma, Ceslo Mendes, Xiaomin Wu, and Cheng Zhao traveled with the team as proctors and graders. Indiana Gold finished seventeenth in Division A this year. Indiana Blue finished 61st and Indiana Silver was 65th. Michale Catlin earned a National Honor Score by correctly answering 7 of 8 during the inidividual round. Charles Tam and Jerry Wu were awarded team high score medals. susan Hu, Rosemary Luo, John Moskal, Noah Wright, and David Yust earned team high score medals for Indiana Blue, and Phillip Meiser led Indiana Silver. Congratulations to 2000-2001 team member Feng Tu, who will participate in the RSI program at MIT.

In 2003, Indiana sent two teams, a total of twenty-five students, to the twenty-eighth ARML. The coaches were Henjin Chi, Ron Ji, and John Rickert. Parents Karen Liu, Susanna Ma, Steven Maynard, Li-wun Tam, and Najia Jin served as proctors and graders. The Indiana Gold team finished twenty-third, while competing in Division A. The Indiana Blue team finished 56th in Division B. Charles Tam of the Gold team and Paco de la Rosa of the Blue team earned team high score medals. Congratulations to Pat Mihelich and Ann Chi, who will participate in the RSI program at MIT.

In 2004, Indiana sent three teams, consisting of forty-one students to the twenty-ninth ARML. The coaches were Henjin Chi, Matt Langer, and John Rickert. Parents Allen Poikonen, Volker Thomas, and Brian White traveled with the team and served as proctors for the competition. Indiana Gold finished third in division B. Indiana Blue tied for 30th in Division B, and Indiana Silver finished 56th. Team high score medals were earned by Ann Chi of the Gold team, Joshua Hutchins of the Blue team, and Silver team members Arjun Theertam, Philip Thomas, and John Tian. Congratulations to Ruth Dhanaraj, who will participate in the RSI program at MIT.

Please e-mail rickert@nextwork.rose-hulman.edu if you have any helpful comments about this page.