On October 7, over 150 Olympians came from all over Colorado to participate in the 38th Soifer Mathematical Olympiad, including: Bluffs Middle School, Cherry Creek High School, Coronado High School, Denver Online, Eagleview Middle School, Grandview High School, Holmes Middle School, Northridge Elementary, Pine Creek High School, Rock Canyon High School, Scottsbluff High School (Nebraska), The Manning School of Academics and Arts, Thomas MacLaren State Charter School, Valley High School, West Middle School, and Windsor Charter Academy. The group from Scottsbluff High School (Nebraska) brought 14 students. Several of the students from Nebraska received awards.
The Olympians were offered five problems and given four hours to solve them and present complete essay-type solutions.
First prize was awarded by the panel of judges to Srinivas Arun, junior, Cherry Creek High School.
Arun received an Olympiad Gold Medal, a $1,000 scholarship to be used at any certified American university, a $2,000 UCCS Chancellor’s Scholarship for Olympiad Medalists who enroll in UCCS as a new student, and four books by Alexander Soifer, including “The Mathematical Coloring Book,” “How Does One Cut a Triangle?,” “Geometric Etudes in Combinatorial Mathematics” and “Colorado Mathematical Olympiad: The First 10 years and Further Explorations.”
Second prize was awarded to Nathan George, senior, Pine Creek High School.
Nathan George received an Olympiad Silver Medal, a $500 scholarship to be used at any certified American university, a $2,000 UCCS Chancellor’s Scholarship for Olympiad Medalists who enroll in UCCS as a new student, and four books by Alexander Soifer, including “The Mathematical Coloring Book,” “How Does One Cut a Triangle?,” “Geometric Etudes in Combinatorial Mathematics” and “Colorado Mathematical Olympiad: The First 10 years and Further Explorations.”
Third prize was awarded to Shruti Arun, freshman, Cherry Creek High School; Joshua Liu, 7th grade, Denver online; and Austin Zhang, sophomore, Grandview High School.
Arun, Liu, and Zhang received an Olympiad Bronze Medal, a $2,000 UCCS Chancellor’s Scholarship for Olympiad Medalists who enroll in UCCS as new students, and four books by Alexander Soifer, including “The Mathematical Coloring Book,” “How Does One Cut a Triangle?,” “Geometric Etudes in Combinatorial Mathematics” and “Colorado Mathematical Olympiad: The First 10 years and Further Explorations.”
First Honorable Mentions were awarded to the following 16 Olympians: Abigail Douglas, junior, Cherry Creek High School; David “Bear” Kent, 8th grade, Eagleview Middle School; Ben Jensen, freshman, Pine Creek High School; Nakul Choudhary, freshman, Rock Canyon High School; Cal Heldt, senior, Scottsbluff High School; Grant Kildow, junior, Scottsbluff High School; Landen Heine, freshman, Scottsbluff High School; Alex Zhang, 8th grade, The Manning School of Academics and Arts; Gavin Walsh, freshman, Thomas MacLaren; Kai Parris, freshman, Thomas MacLaren Charter School; Melissa Ye, 8th grade, West Middle School; Noland Wedlaw, 7th grade, West Middle School; Emmit Knutson, senior, Windsor Charter Academy; Lucas George, junior, Windsor Charter Academy; Nathan Southam, sophomore, Windsor Charter Academy; and Hayden Barrett, senior, Windsor Charter Academy.
Each student will receive three books by Alexander Soifer, including “Mathematics as Problem Solving,” “How Does One Cut a Triangle?,” “Geometric Etudes in Combinatorial Mathematics” and “Colorado Mathematical Olympiad: The First 10 years and Further Explorations.”
Second Honorable Mentions were awarded to the following 16 Olympians: Wyatt Nerud, 7th grade, Bluffs Middle School; Ayan Vaishnav, junior, Cherry Creek High School; Yalun Wang, sophomore, Cherry Creek High School; Ivan Skaggs, junior, Coronado High School; Alex Winslow, 8th grade, Eagleview Middle School; Zelda Stark, 8th grade, Holmes Middle School; Alexander Porter, 6th grade, Northridge Elementary; Harrison Maser, freshman, Scottsbluff High School; Alexander Shaner, 7th grade, Thomas MacLaren; McKenna Shaner, sophomore, Thomas MacLaren; Clarence Lilevjen, 8th grade, Thomas Maclaren School; Luke Zimmer, 8th grade, Thomas Maclaren School; Grady Brown, junior, Thomas MacLaren State Charter School; Wyatt Kocol, junior, Valley High School; Egan Rinebarger, 7th grade, West Middle School; and Kaylee Weickert, junior, Windsor Charter Academy.
Each student will receive two books by Alexander Soifer, including “Mathematics as Problem Solving” and “Colorado Mathematical Olympiad: The First 10 years and Further Explorations.”
Other
McKenna Shaner received a special award for her letter of appreciation to the judges and jury of the Soifer Mathematical Olympiad. Shaner also received an award for Second Honorable Mention.
A Sample Problem: Stone Age Entertainment Returns
Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble alternate taking pebbles off a table having originally 2022 pebbles. If there are n pebbles in the pile, the player must take between 1 and n/2 pebbles (inclusive). The player who takes the last pebble loses. Find the winning strategy for one of the players allowing him to win regardless of the other player’s moves. Fred goes first.
October 14 Awards Presentation Ceremony
On Oct. 14, in Berger Hall on the UCCS campus, UCCS conducted award presentation ceremonies with the participation of Nancy Marchand-Martella, UCCS Provost; Lynn Vidler, Dean of UCCS College of Letters, Arts & Sciences; Paul Bunge, Colorado School District 11, Facilitator and AVID Co Facilitator; Taci Killingsworth, Director for Curriculum and Instruction, Academy District 20; Col. Robert Ewell, a senior member of the Olympiad Jury; and Alexander Soifer, Olympiad Chair and Professor of Mathematics and Art & Film at UCCS.
Alexander Soifer reviewed the solutions to the Olympiad problems and presented a lecture titled “From the Olympiad to the Frontier of Mathematics: Coloring a Square Grid.”
The year’s prize fund and means for its delivery was donated by Colorado Springs School District 11; Air Academy School District 20; Springer Publisher; UCCS Food and Hospitality Services; Robert and June Ewell; Chancellor Venkat Reddy of UCCS; the Office of the Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor at UCCS; LAS Dean’s Office; UCCS Parking and Transportation; Colorado Governor Jared Polis; Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers; and Alexander Soifer.
Approximately 20,150 students have participated throughout the 38 years of the Colorado Mathematical Olympiad. They have written roughly 97,250 essays and were awarded over $440,000 in prizes. The Olympiad is a unique joint effort of school districts, schools, industry, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, and city and state governments.
Find more details on the Soifer Mathematical Olympiad on the Olympiad’s website.