On October 4, 2024, a wonderful sunny Colorado autumn day, Olympians came from all over Colorado, with two dozen who came all the way from Scottsbluff, Nebraska, to participate in the 40th Anniversary Soifer Mathematical Olympiad.
The Olympians were offered five problems and given four hours to solve them and present complete essay-type solutions. Problems were the same for all Olympians, high and middle schoolers, and those brave 4th-graders who came to the Olympiad.
First prize was awarded by the panel of judges to Joshua Liu, freshman, Cherry Creek High School.
He will receive an Olympiad Gold Medal, Gold Medal, $1000 Scholarship that can be used in any U.S. university or four-year college shortly after graduation from high school, $2000 UCCS Chancelor’s Scholarship for the Soifer Mathematical Olympiad medalists that can be used only at UCCS while enrolled as a new freshman; The Olympiad Pin, and ca. 900-page 2024 book by Alexander Soifer entitled “The New Mathematical Coloring Book: Mathematics of Coloring and the Colorful Life of Its Creators.”
Second prize was awarded to Jacob Greene, senior, Stargate School.
He will receive an Olympiad Silver Medal, Gold Medal, 500 Scholarship that can be used in any U.S. university or four-year college shortly after graduation from high school, $2000 UCCS Chancelor’s Scholarship for the Soifer Mathematical Olympiad medalists that can be used only at UCCS while enrolled as a new freshman; The Olympiad Pin, and ca. 900-page 2024 book by Alexander Soifer entitled “The New Mathematical Coloring Book: Mathematics of Coloring and the Colorful Life of Its Creators.” Jacob’s father George Greene accepted the Prize on behalf of his son, as Jacob was invited to present his research at MIT.
First Honorable Mentions were awarded to the following 15 Olympians: Christopher Zhu, 8th grade, Campus Middle School; Naomi Huang, junior, Cherry Creek High School; Amanda Chen, senior, Cherry Creek High School; James Lee, junior, Fossil Ridge High School; Austin Zhang, senior, Grandview High School; Neo Luo, 8th grade, Kinard Middle School; Ryan Taix, sophomore, Palmer Ridge High School; Ben Jensen, junior, Pine Creek High School; Alex Zhang, sophomore, Ralston Valley High School; Kaidenz McDaniel, junior, Scottsbluff High School; Benjamin Patterson, freshman, The Classical Academy; Gavin Walsh, junior, Thomas MacLaren; McKenna Shaner, senior, Thomas Maclaren School; Declan North, junior, Thomas MacLaren School; and Shruti Arun, junior, Cherry Creek High School.
Each of them will receive the books “Geometric Etudes in Combinatorial Mathematics” and “Colorado Mathematical Olympiad: The First 10 Years and Further Explorations,” both by Alexander Soifer, one book donated by Springer, and the Olympiad pin.
Second Honorable Mentions were awarded to the following 57 Olympians: Jade Swiryn, senior, ; David “Bear” Kent, sophomore, Air Academy High School; Laurel Amber Kent, 7th grade, Air Academy High School; Declan Long, 6th grade, Bluffs Middle School; Noah Liu, 6th grade, Campus Middle School; Jake Jekelis, senior, Castle View High School; RUOCHU LI, 6th grade, Challenger Middle School; Yalun Wang, senior, Cherry Creek High School; Aarush Goradia, freshman, Cherry Creek High School; Egan Rinebarger, freshman, Cherry Creek High School; Melissa Ye, sophomore, Cherry Creek High School; Michelle Ye, 6th grade, Cherry Creek School District; Hiro Kannanabe, 7th grade, Cherry Creek Schools; Zachary Murphy, sophomore, Cheyenne Mountain Highschool; Franchesca Radway-Kumley, 8th grade, Chinook Trail Middle School; Marie Wiseman, freshman, Colorado Springs Early Colleges; Jonathan Wiseman, junior, Colorado Springs Early Colleges; Benjamin Lee, freshman, Frontier Academy, (Charter School); Bennett Bales, 8th grade, homeschool; Natalie Muro, junior, Palmer High School; Coleson Kovacs, senior, Palmer Ridge; Keegan Mulloy, sophomore, Palmer Ridge High School; Adam Mikaelian, junior, Pine Creek High School; Shivam Singh, junior, Pine Creek High School; Aiden Argo, junior, Scottsbluff High School; Capria Rogers, senior, Scottsbluff High School; Jacob Green, junior, Scottsbluff High School; Jacob Mark, junior, Scottsbluff High School; Joseph Jolliffe, sophomore, Scottsbluff High School; Landen Heine, junior, Scottsbluff High School; Lillyana Abshire, junior, Scottsbluff High School; Logan Polk, junior, Scottsbluff High School; River Baily-Nolde, junior, Scottsbluff High School; Wyatt Nerud, freshman, Scottsbluff High School; Connor Mulloy, 8th grade, St Peter’s Middle School; Sofia Gainullina, freshman, St. Mary’s Academy; Andrew LaFountain, senior, Thomas Mac Lauren School; Kai Parris, junior, Thomas Mac Lauren School; Clarence Lilevjen, sophomore, Thomas MacLaren; Braddock Hewitt, freshman, Thomas MacLaren; Renea Hopkins, freshman, Thomas MacLaren; Roberto Medina, freshman, Thomas MacLaren Charter School; Isaiah Hammes, freshman, Thomas maclaren school; Isaac Valdez-Hasbrouck, freshman, Thomas Maclaren School; Evan St. John, freshman, Thomas Maclaren School; Luca Schmidt, freshman, Thomas Maclaren School; Alvin Cooper, freshman, Thomas Maclaren School; Ava Walsh, freshman, Thomas Maclaren School; Leo Almond, freshman, Thomas MacLaren School; Jasper North, freshman, Thomas MacLaren School; Rocket Snyder, freshman, Thomas MacLaren school.; Alexis Pandian, 6th grade, West Middle School; Hailey Turner, 7th grade, West Middle School; Michael Jumaan, 8th grade, West Middle School; Charles Rochford, 7th grade, West Middle School; Brad Martinez, 7th grade, West Middle School; Sishleand Sathish, 7th grade, West Middle School.
Each of them will receive the books “Geometric Etudes in Combinatorial Mathematics” and “Colorado Mathematical Olympiad: The First 10 Years and Further Explorations,” both by Alexander Soifer, and the Olympiad pin.
Those who wish to understand the spirit of the Olympiad are invited to solve some of the 40th Soifer Mathematical Olympiad’s five problems. Here is our most original problem 5 for your enjoyment:
6-Coloring of a Map
The famous Four-Color Theorem (4CT) states that every map can be colored in 4 colors, under the conditions that each region is a single piece of land, and regions sharing a boundary line (not merely finitely many points) must be assigned different colors. We offer a different problem to you.
The vertices of map M, satisfying the same two conditions as in 4CT, are colored in 3 colors so that any 2 vertices connected by a boundary line are assigned different colors. (A vertex v of M is a point where at least 3 boundary lines meet.) Prove that 6 colors suffice to color all the vertices and the regions of M in such a way that not only any 2 regions sharing a boundary line are colored in different colors, but also any vertex v and the region containing v on its boundary line are colored in different colors, and differently colored are any two vertices connected by a boundary line.
This year’s prize fund of the Olympiad and means for its delivery have been generously donated by Springer Publisher; Colorado Springs School District 11; Air Academy School District 20; UCCS Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance; UCCS Chancellor; UCCS Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor; UCCS Arts and Sciences College Dean; UCCS Parking and Transportation; and Alexander Soifer. 450 books by Soifer (and donated by him), a $25,000 value, were presented to the Olympians on the day of the Olympiad and at the Award Presentation Ceremonies. Springer’s donation of 10 books included 3 copies of Soifer’s 2024 “The New Mathematical Coloring Book: Mathematics of Coloring and the Colorful Life of Its Creators,” an oversied ca. 900-page book.
History
In the 40 years of the Soifer (formerly Colorado) Mathematical Olympiad, over 20,000 students participated during 1984–2024. They have written ca. 100,000 essays and were awarded ca. $640,000 in prizes. The Olympiad is a unique joint effort of the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, school districts, publisher Springer, Wolfram Corporation, the City and State of Colorado governments, and the publisher Alexander Soifer.