SBU Hosted Qualifying Math Contest
Southwest Baptist University News Release
Contact: Sharina Smith, Office of Marketing & Communications
BOLIVAR, Mo. – The Southwest Baptist University mathematic department recently hosted The Missouri Council of Teachers of Mathematics/mathleague.org qualifying mathematics contest. Forty-two students from eight schools participated in the competition. Of these students, 40 were high school students, and two were seventh graders.
The contest consisted of two individual tests (called Sprint and Target) and two team tests (one a relay event). All students took the same exams, but on the individual events, awards were given by grade level. Top place finishers were: Sprint, overall: Gerhardt Hinkle-Springfield Central-1st, Shelby McMurray-Spokane-2nd, and Warut Virjitenbaronk-(a seventh grader) Branson-3rd; Target, overall: Gerhardt Hinkle-Springfield Central-1st, John Olomon-Howell-Bolivar-2nd, and Joe Walegir-(a seventh grader) Nixa-3rd.
On the small school team contest, Brandon McCoy, GW McElfresh, and Shelby McMurray from Spokane formed the first place team. In the large school team contest; Michael Bakker, Gerhardt Hinkle and Jonathan Richards from Springfield Central formed the first place team. In the relay event, the team of Michael Bakker, Gerhardt Hinkle and Jonathan Richards from Springfield Central and the team of Megan Reed, Cody Watson, and Brandon Yokely from Forsyth tied for first place.
School totals of all test scores are computed for a sweepstakes total. In the large school division, Springfield Central took first among the four large schools, beating Branson, Nixa and Ozark. In the small school division, Spokane took first among the four small schools, beating Bolivar, Forsyth, and Springfield Catholic.
At each competition, students achieving a certain score on any exam qualify for the state competition in Columbia, on April 16, 2011. Students qualifying at this event were Brandon McCoy, GW McElfresh, and Shelby McMurray from Spokane and Michael Bakker, Gerhardt Hinkle and Jonathan Richards from Springfield Central. This was the first of six qualifying events that will occur during the year. The next qualifying event is Saturday, November 6, at Spokane High School. Information on the contest is available from http://mathleague.org/hsevents.php.
SBU Department of Mathematics Chair and Professor Kevin Hopkins said, “Congratulations to all participating students, and their coaches, for their dedication to mathematics.”
###
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.
