Math Day 2008 Results

The 19th Annual UNL Math Day was held on Thursday, November 13, 2008, 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 given by Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs David Wilson. Math Day 1990 hosted 562 students from 68 Nebraska high schools. This year Math Day hosted 1,343 students from 99 Nebraska high schools. During the afternoon Award Ceremony, Professor John Meakin, Chair of the Mathematics Department, presented UNL scholarships totaling $34,000 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 two 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 top 3 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 Dean H. and Floreen G. Eastman Memorial Fund for Mathematics, the College of Engineering and the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. 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 (up to two alternates per team allowed). 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 two years high school algebra, one year geometry and trigonometry. 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: Jahan Claes, Will Scheideler, Alan Xu
2. Creighton Prep: Paul Davey, Nick Davis, Mike Lebens, Jeffmin Lin

Class B

1. Mt. Michael Benedectine: Sang-won Bahng, Joshua Cox, Yongjoon Kim, Gunhee Park, Luke Weitkemper
2. Seward: Nick Couch, Jessica Guy, Andrew Sorsen, Titus Tvrdy

Class C

1. Brownell-Talbot: Chris Dessonville, Drew Heckman, Molly Kremen, Ian Suiter, Eric Tobin
2. Archbishop Bergan: Thomas Fryklind, Kurtis Kammerer, Aaron Morris, Nate Schueth, Jim Wilmes

Class D

1. Pope John XXIII: Nate Dierks, Jordan Engle, Dylan Heithoff, Angie Pelster, Jackie Seier
2. Heartland Homeschoolers: Matthew Porath, Josh Roth, Lauren Roth

PROBE I-Team Competition

(Maximum possible team score is 100; 1st through 5th in each class.)

Class A

1. Lincoln East (86.2)
2. Creighton Prep (77.8)
3. Lincoln Southwest (73.0)
4. Westside (71.8)
5. Lincoln Southeast (66.8)

Class B

1. Mt. Michael Benedictine (70.25)
2. Skutt Catholic (59.75)
3. Norris (59.50)
4. Plattsmouth (58.50)
5. Duchesne Academy Sacred Heart (55.25)

Class C

1. Brownell-Talbot (66.00)
2. Elmwood-Murdock (57.33)
3. Archbishop Bergan (54.33)
4. Wisner-Pilger (52.67)
5. Grand Island Central Catholic (51.00)

Class D

1. Nebraska Evangelical Lutheran (50.00)
2. College View Academy (49.33)
3. Bertrand (49.00)
4. Heartland Homeschoolers (48.67)
5. Dorchester (43.33)

PROBE I-Individual Competition

Top 3 (school)

Females

1st Lauren Roth (Heartland Homeschoolers), 2nd Sara Frederick (Scottsbluff), 2nd Cara Nickolaus (Lincoln Northeast), 3rd Maesen Churchill (Lincoln East)

Males

1st Paul Davey (Creighton Prep), 1st Albert Zhou (Lincoln Southwest), 2nd Benjamin Kotopka (Pius X), 2nd Alan Xu (Lincoln East), 3rd Will Scheideler (Lincoln East), 3rd Richard Zhang (Lincoln East)

PROBE II (Scholarship Competition)

Top 10 awarded 4-year Math Day Scholarships to UNL. The award for 1st is $8,000, for 2nd-5th is $4,000 and for 6th-10th is $2,000 (amount given is the 4-year total).