Southwest Baptist University News Release
Contact: Sharina Smith, Office of Marketing & Communications
BOLIVAR, Mo. – A team of three students from Southwest Baptist University’s Department of Computer and Information Sciences left their mark on the IBM-sponsored 2010 Battle of the Brains, Saturday, Nov. 6. Senior Ashley Jones (Shawnee Mission, Kan.), Sophomore Weston Herrington (Carthage, Mo.) and Sophomore Jordan Hull (Greenfield, Mo.) claimed a spot for SBU at the prestigious competition among the elite top twenty-five teams in the Mid-Central region of the United States (Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee).
“Our team was doing well, but hadn’t made into the top 25 with about five minutes to go in the five-hour competition,” said Dr. DeClue, Chair of the CIS Department. “One of the last correct solutions in the contest came from SBU and that grabbed a spot in the top 25. That’s a pretty amazing accomplishment given that any school with a graduate program in computer science can put their grad students on their teams. Our kids were happy, and I know I was very satisfied with their performance. They worked hard, they had fun, and God blessed their efforts. That’s a good day in anybody’s book.”
SBU’s finish among the elite top 25 in the region placed it in the top three from Missouri along with Washington University (5th), and Missouri State University (18th). Other Missouri schools represented included St. Louis University (27th), University of Central Missouri (35th), the University of Missouri-Kansas City (43rd), College of the Ozarks (51st), Park University (57th), Northwest Missouri State University (74th), Drury University (76th), Maryville University (98th), Lindenwood College (119th) and Missouri Western University (136th).
Also competing for Southwest Baptist University was a team of freshmen who completed five problems and finished in 33rd place.
“These three freshmen finished higher than any team of freshmen I’ve ever seen,” said DeClue. “It’s a real testament to their high school programs and to their work ethic since they’ve arrived on our campus.”
Competing on the freshman team were Luke Abbott (Camdenton High School, Camdenton, Mo.), Jacob Foster (Webb City High School, Webb City, Mo.) and David Haugh (Heartland High School, Belton, Mo.).
Finishing four problems and rounding out SBU’s effort in 94th place were juniors Maaura Stucky (Kansas City, Mo.), Matt Copeland (Springfield, Mo.), and Ryan McGlaughlin (Molene, Ill.). Coaches for SBU this year included Dr. Baochuan Lu, Dr. Jim Cain, and DeClue.
The ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) is a multitier, team-based, programming competition operating under the auspices of ACM. The contest involves several tens of thousands of the finest students and faculty in computing disciplines at almost 2,000 universities from over 80 countries on six continents. It is the oldest, largest, and most prestigious programming contest in the world.
FINAL RESULTS
PLACE TEAM LOCATION SOLVED MINUTES
1. University of Illinois – A Urbana-Champagne, IL 9 948
2. University of Chicago – A Chicago, IL 9 1175
3. University of Chicago – B Chicago, IL 8 768
4. Illinois State University – A Normal, IL 7 488
5. Washington University – A St. Louis, MO 7 496
6. Wheaton – A Wheaton, IL 7 634
7. Washington University – B St. Louis, MO 7 708
8. Loyola University – A Chicago, IL 7 809
9. Northern Kentucky University – A Highland Heights, KY 7 832
10. University of Illinois – B Urbana-Champagne, IL 7 849
11. Middle Tennessee State University – A Murfreesboro, TN 7 864
12. Northwestern University Evanston, IL 7 867
13. University of Louisville – A Louisville, KY 6 487
14. Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Terre Haute, IN 6 497
15. Centre College – A Danville, KY 6 512
16. Hendrix University – A Conway, AR 6 522
17. DePaul University – A Chicago, IL 6 557
18. Missouri State University – A Springfield, MO 6 569
19. University of Arkansas-Little Rock – A Little Rock, AR 6 624
20. Tennessee Tech University – A Cookville, TN 6 626
21. University of Central Arkansas – A Conway, AR 6 643
22. Principia College – A Elsah, IL 6 646
23. University of Chicago – C Chicago, IL 6 660
24. SOUTHWEST BAPTIST UNIVERSITY – A BOLIVAR, MO 6 666
25. Harding University – A Searcy, AR 6 671
26. University of Arkansas – A Fayetteville, AR 6 706
27. St. Louis University – A St. Louis, MO 6 939
- - - -
32. University of Kentucky – A Lexington, KY 5 388
35. University of Central Missouri – A Warrensburg, MO 5 506
37. Belmont University – A Nashville, TN 5 531
43. University of Missouri-Kansas City – A Kansas City MO 5 594
51. College of the Ozarks – A Point Lookout, MO 4 214
57. Park University – A Kansas City, MO 4 279
74. Northwest Missouri State University - A Maryville, MO 4 384
76. Drury University – A Springfield, MO 4 387
98. Maryville University – A St. Louis, MO 4 610
119.Lindenwood College – A St. Louis, MO 3 261
136. Missouri Western University – A St. Joseph, MO 2 390
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PHOTO:
L-R is Weston Herrington, Jordan Hull, and Ashley Jones
Southwest Baptist University is a leader among private universities in truly integrating Christ-centered academic pursuits with comprehensive professional programs at an affordable price. Since 1878, the faculty and staff have created a caring, academic community to prepare students to be servant leaders in a global society. The University has been named one of America’s Best Christian Colleges® for 14 consecutive years, one of America’s 100 Best College Buys® for 15 consecutive years, and it has been named among institutions with America’s Best College Scholarships ® for the past four years by Institutional Research and Evaluation, Inc. For more information, visit www.SBUniv.edu.
SBU’s Office of Marketing & Communications is available to news media 24/7 at 417-399-7918.
