The Fifth Annual High School Mathematics Tournament at the University of Iowa was held on Saturday, March 24, 2001 from 9 a

The Fifth Annual High School Mathematics Tournament at the University of Iowa was held on Saturday, March 24, 2001 from 9 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. By all counts, it was a great success. The tournament received generous support from a variety of units and individuals; without this support, the event would not have been possible. I therefore want to begin by thanking those who contributed to its success: The College of Engineering; the Departments of Computer Science, Mathematics, Curriculum and Instruction, and Statistics and Actuarial Science; and the office of the Provost. I

particularly want to thank Dean Gary Fethke and Professor Carol Fethke, and Mrs. Catharine Wegner, a 1934 Mathematics Alumna and long-time teacher of Mathematics, who helped endow the tournament.

This year’s competition brought together roughly 122 students from the following schools:

Cedar Falls High School

Center Point-Urbana

Central High Elkader

City High School, Iowa City

Columbus High School

Dubuque Senior High School

Home Schools

Iowa Falls High School

Linn-Mar Community School

Mid-Prairie High School

Oelwein High School

Washington High School-VS

West High School, Iowa City

West Liberty High School

The students participated in a total of four "events". In two of these events (the "Sprint Round" and the "Target Round"), students answered mathematics test questions on individual tests. In the remaining two events (the "Team Round" and the "Relay Round") students worked in teams. Professors Paul Muhly, and Yi Li and University of Iowa student volunteers proctored the events. While the students were writing their exams, a team of Mathematics teachers from the participating schools graded the completed exams. Lisa Scalzo, an undergraduate in Computer Science, and Cindy Van Ark, Mathematics, entered the results into the computer database. Joel Uden, a program analyst in the Dean's office of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, updated the database and helped at the competition.

At the awards ceremony, Lola Lopes, Associate Provost for Undergraduate Studies at the University of Iowa, congratulated the participants and gave a talk on the importance of the study of mathematics to all students. She was particularly pleased to see the participation of so many high school women participating in the tournament. Below is a summary of the results of the tournament.

SPRINT ROUND WINNERS (maximum = 120):

Grade 9 (large school) Ryan Miller, Linn-Mar Community School, Score: 56

Grade 9 (small school) Evelyn Talmage, Home Schools, and Phillip Gaebler, Home

Schools, tied with Score: 47

Grade 10 (large school) John Hegeman, West High School, Score: 70

Grade 10 (small school) Matt Zaring, Oelwein High School, Score: 30

Grade 11 (large school) David Kummer, City High School, Score: 68

Grade 11 (small school) Mike Hansen, Columbus High School, Score: 53

Grade 12 (large school) Rohit Thomas, West High School, Score: 82

Grade 12 (small school) Mike Caley, Columbus High School, Score: 63

TEAM ROUND WINNERS (maximum = 100 for large schools, 50 for small schools)

Junior Varsity (large school) West High School, two teams tied, Score: 40

Junior Varsity (small school) Home Schools, Score: 50

Varsity (large school) A three way tie: City High School, Linn-Mar Community School,

and West High School, all with Score: 80

Varsity (small school) Columbus High School, Score 80

TARGET ROUND WINNERS (maximum = 80)

Grade 9 (large school) Zeb Rocklin, City High School, Score: 40

Grade 9 (small school) Charles Fisher, Vinton-Shellsburg, Score: 30

Grade 10 (large school) John Hegeman, West High School, Score: 60

Grade 10 (small school) Mandi Rhinehart, Vinton-Shellsburg, Score: 30

Grade 11 (large school) David Kummer, City High School, Score: 60

Grade 11 (small school) Mike Hansen, Columbus High School, Score: 40

Grade 12 (large school) Rohit Thomas, West High School, Score: 60

Grade 12 (small school) Mike Caley, Columbus High School, Score: 40

RELAY ROUND WINNERS (maximum = 100 for large schools, 50 for small schools)

Junior Varsity (large school) West High School, Score: 10

Junior Varsity (small school) no Score

Varsity (large school) West High School, Score: 20

Varsity (small school) Vinton-Shellsburg, Score: 5

WINNING SCHOOLS-TOTALS OF SCORES (maximum = 400 for large schools, 300

for small schools)

Junior Varsity (large school) West High School, Score: 115.50

Junior Varsity (small school) Vinton-Shellsburg, Score: 88.34

Varsity (large school) West High School, Score: 218.00

Varsity (small school) Columbus High School, Score: 171.00

At the awards ceremony, Professor Paul Muhly also announced that the twelfth grade winners in the Sprint Round (Rohit Thomas West High School and Mike Caley Columbus High School) and in the Target Round (Rohit Thomas West High School, and Mike Caley Columbus High School) would each receive a prize of $100 from the endowment started by the Fethkes and Mrs.Wegner. Sandra Stockman, Administrative Assistant in the Department of Mathematics, coordinated and organized details of this tournament at all levels, so a hearty word of thanks is due to her! Thanks, Sandy! Also thanks again to Joel Uden and to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Webmaster Brett Cloyd for putting together the on-line registration form for this tournament. Many of the participants used this method of registration, and it simplified things considerably.

Thanks to everyone who shared in the work of making this tournament run efficiently, and thanks most of all to the students who undertook the nontrivial effort at solving almost three and one half hours of Mathematics problems on a beautiful Saturday morning.

Paul Muhly

Department of Mathematics

University of Iowa

Iowa City, IA 52252

319-335-0759

Muhly@math.uiowa.edu