Math Day 2003 Results

The 14th Annual UNL Math Day was held on Thursday, November 13, 2003, at the UNL city campus Union. Opening ceremonies began at 8:00 a.m. in the Lied Center for Performing Arts with the Welcome Address from the Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Dr. Richard Edwards. Math Day 1990 hosted 562 students from 68 Nebraska high schools. This year Math Day hosted 1,330 students from 102 Nebraska schools. In the afternoon Award Ceremony, Professor Peter Bleed, Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, presented the $34,000 of Gallup-sponsored UNL scholarships to the top 10 students in the PROBE II competition.

The purpose of Math Day is to promote the mathematical sciences and UNL. It consists of one individual and two team mathematics competitions, information about majors and departments, career information and recreational mathematical activities. All students start with a multiple choice, preliminary exam called PROBE I (Problems Requiring Original and Brilliant Effort). The top 3 females and males receive awards. The top 50 students move on to take the now famous essay exam called PROBE II. The top 10 on PROBE II are awarded a total of $34,000 in 4-year scholarships to UNL. The scholarships are generously supported by the Gallup Organization. The first team competition is determined by averaging the top scores from each school on PROBE I. The second is a double elimination tournament pitting 3-member teams against each other. The team competitions are divided into smallest, small, medium and large school categories with trophies given to the top two teams in each. All the questions assume only two years high school algebra and one year geometry. However the answers to PROBE II questions require the creativity and originality that we expect from only the very best students.

Math Bowl Tournament

Class A

1. Lincoln East: Stephen Anthony, Tim Carrell, Jeff Watton
2. Omaha Westside: Matt Fenwick, Joe Hejkal, Brandon Tomlinson

Class B

1. Duchesne Academy of Sacred Heart: Katie Hildreth, Bridget Leuschen, Robin Wees
2. Plattsmouth: Aaron Becker, Brenden Boyle, Josh Smith

Class C

1. Brownell-Talbot: Rahul Agarwal, Jacob Bredthauer, Jeremy Pace, Laura Stroy
2. Syracuse-Dunbar-Avoca: Dustin Giddings, Wade Janssen, Alisha Lierman, Ryan Post

Class D

1. Parkview Christian: Ben Grone, Melissa Lanik, Tara Miller, Sarah Rolofson, Josh Sawyer
2. Dodge: Maggie Blankenau, Jim Hartline, Nick Kaup, Scott Ruskamp, Adam Wiese

PROBE I-Team Competition

(Maximum possible team score is 100.)

Class A

1. Lincoln East (87.40)
2. Creighton Prep (74.20)
3. Omaha Westside (68.00)
4. Lincoln Southeast (65.00)
5. Omaha North (62.40)

Class B

1. Norris (62.00)
2. Grand Island Central Catholic (56.50)
3. Mt. Michael (53.25)
4. Kearney Catholic (51.75)
5. Plattsmouth (47.50)

Class C

1. Brownell-Talbot (51.00)
2. Nebraska Evanelical Lutheran (50.33)
3. Yutan (46.33)
4. Syracuse-Dunbar-Avoca (45.33)
5. Tri-County (43.33)

Class D

1. Nemaha Valley (47.67)
2. Kenesaw (47.33)
3. Dodge (46.33)
4. College View Academy (44.67)
5. Lewiston (40.33)

PROBE I-Individual Competition

Top 3 (score out of 100 points, school)

Females

Jill Westcott (84, Brownell-Talbot), Hannah Breckbill (81, Lincoln Northeast), Sally Hudson (71, Lincoln East)

Males

Tim Carrell (97, Lincoln East), Stephen Anthony (89, Lincoln East), Anish Mitra (89, Lincoln East)

PROBE II (Scholarship Competition)