Wednesday, November 7, 2012

SBU CIS Team Claims Fifth Place in U.S. Mid-Central Region Programming Contest



Southwest Baptist University News Release
Contact: Office of Marketing and Communications
417-328-1803


BOLIVAR, Mo. – Southwest Baptist University’s Department of Computer and Information Sciences (CIS) competitive programming teams received top honors at Missouri State University, Saturday, November 4. SBU's A team claimed the title of best team in Missouri, and finished in the top five in the IBM-sponsored Mid-Central Region Intercollegiate Programming Contest.

“This is the highest finish in history for any team from SBU,” Said Dr. Tim DeClue, chair of the SBU CIS Department. “We are truly blessed to have the caliber of program that can attract incredibly talented students. It is an honor to work with them to sharpen their God-given talent. It was just an amazing day.”  

The Mid-Central region is one of only 11 regions in North America and encompasses Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee. Only the University of Chicago, University of Illinois, and the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology finished ahead of SBU’s top competitive programmers in a field of over 150 teams.

The competition - called informally the “Battle of the Brains”- is held each year among leading colleges and universities with computing programs and is considered the most prestigious computational problem-solving contest in the world. Undergraduate and graduate-level students are allowed to compete together. According to Dr. DeClue, “allowing graduate students to compete is good because it certainly raises the level of problem-solving and analytical ability in the contest. It also makes our kids’ achievement even that much more remarkable. We [SBU CIS] only have an undergraduate program and all three schools that edged us out have graduate programs in computer science.”


Competing on SBU’s A team was Weston Herrington (senior, Carthage, Mo.), Luke Abbott (senior, Camdenton, Mo.), and Jason Jakusz (junior, Ava, Mo.). SBU’s B team finished in 58th position and was comprised of Maaura Stucky (senior, Kansas City, Mo.), Justin Stout (sophomore, Garden City, Kan.) and Bobby Sterling (freshman, Buffalo, Mo.). SBU’s C team finished in 115th place and consisted of Erica Stratton (senior, Branson, Mo.), Brady Kornrumpf (freshman, Jefferson City, Mo.) and Nate Schulz (freshman, Omaha, Neb.). Also practicing with the teams this fall were Cameron Euler (freshman, Camdenton, Mo.).   

The SBU Competitive programming teams are coached by Dr. Baochuan Lu and Dr. Tim DeClue.
The competitive programming teams will practice and compete again in the spring at the Consortium for Computing Sciences Central Plains Regional Programming Contest where they are the 2012 defending champions.


Top 25 Complete Results

Place
University/Team
Solutions
Time (minutes)
1
University of  Chicago - A
8
769
2
University of Chicago –B
8
832
3
University of Illinois-A
7
984
4
Rose-Hulman-A
6
382
5
SOUTHWEST BAPTIST UNIVERSITY-A
6
672
6
University of Illinois-B
6
676
7
Rose-Hulman-B
6
689
8
University of Illinois-C
6
711
9
Illinois Institute of Technology-Chicago-A
6
754
10
University of Kentucky-A
6
848
11
Saint Louis University-A
6
948
12
University of Chicago-C
6
1030
13
University of Illinois-D
5
377
14
University of Kentucky-B
5
391
15
University of Arkansas-Little Rock-A
5
400
16
College of the Ozarks-A
5
443
17
Vanderbilt-A
5
472
18
Wheaton-A
5
514
19
Loyola-A
5
516
20
Illinois State University-A
5
522
21
Centre College-A
5
534
22
Wheaton-B
5
609
23
Murray State University-A
5
620
24
University of Arkansas-A
5
636
25
Webster University-A
5
640


  
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PHOTO: Front Row (L-R): Erica Stratton, Maaura Stucky, Brady Kornrumpt, Nathan Schulz
Middle Row (L-R): Bobby Sterling, Justin Stout
Back Row (L-R): Jason Jakusz, Luke Abbott, Weston Herrington
Not Pictured: Cameron Euler

Southwest Baptist University is a leader among private universities in truly integrating Christ-centered academic pursuits with comprehensive professional programs at an affordable price. At SBU, the faculty and staff create a caring, academic community to prepare students to be servant leaders in a global society. For more information, visit www.SBUniv.edu.