Decorah High School math students perform well at Mathematical Modeling Contest

Posted: Wed, Feb 12, 2020 9:48 AM

Mathematical modeling contest team members (Front row, from left): Payton Taylor, MiKenna Martin, Brielle Buresh, Karen Henriquez, Mara Holland and Anna Tallier. (Second row, from left): David Olson, Kaj Spencer Berg, Peter Wilson, Zach Garwood, Grace Gerleman, Anya Lovstuen, Ruby Sullivan, Alysa Hanson, Keely Hermanson and AJ Morrow. (Third row, from left): Leila Johnson, Sofie Grouws, Kaia Neal, Noah Lovelace, Conner Cook, William Schwarz, Isaac Roberts, Abby Hanson, Katherine Bruening, Ella Runestad and Andrew Heine. (Back row, from left): Angel Peña-Rodriguez, Tyler Irwin, Landon Miller, Owen Henning, Sam Robinson, Owen Bruening, Andrew Magner and Joseph Seo. (Not Pictured): Lauren Johnson

Twelve Decorah High School students earned distinguished honors in the 22nd Annual High School Mathematical Modeling Contest (HiMCM).

Finishing in the top 8% was the team of Grace Gerleman, Lauren Johnson, Anya Lovstuen, and Ruby Sullivan.

Two teams were recognized as Meritorious, or in the top 21%. The first team included Conner Cook, Zach Garwood, Owen Henning, and Landon Miller. Team members of the second team were Tyler Irwin, Noah Lovelace, David Olson, and Peter Wilson.

All three of the teams mentioned above earned an invitation to compete in the 7th Annual International Mathematical Modeling (IM2C) challenge.

One more Decorah team earned Honorable Mention, or finishing in the top 50%. This team was made up of Angel Peña-Rodriguez, Isaac Roberts, William Schwarz, and Kaj Spencer Berg.

Sponsor Allysen Lovstuen remarked, "I am proud of all of the students who participated. This contest requires interdisciplinary thinking. The students demonstrated strong problem-solving, critical thinking, research, and writing skills. This year we had more students recognized for special recognition than ever before."

Decorah High School had a total of 36 students participate. Earning recognition as Successful Participants were Sofie Grouws, Leila Johnson, Kaia Neal, Payton Taylor, Katherine Bruening, Andrew Heine, AJ Morrow, Ella Runestad, Brielle Buresh, Karen Henriquez, Mara Holland, MiKenna Martin, Abby Hanson, Alysa Hanson, Keely Hermanson, Anna Tallier, Owen Bruening, Andrew Magner, Sam Robinson, and Joseph Seo.

This year's competition had a total of 792 teams from 324 schools. The 22nd Annual HiMCM was made possible by the Consortium for Mathematics and Its Applications (COMAP).