CLC announces winners of High School Academic Challenge
More than 140 students from eight area high schools competed in the annual Worldwide Youth in Science and Engineering (WYSE) Academic Challenge competition, held Feb. 14 at the College of Lake County.
The regional competition pitted the area's brightest students against each other in academic tests covering seven academic areas. The first and second place finishers in each category and the top two teams from each division will advance to the North Chicago Sectional Competition on March 13 at Vernon Hills High School. The Academic Challenge was sponsored by CLC Math and Physics departments and the University of Illinois College of Engineering's WYSE program.
Medalist awards were presented to the individual on each of the eight teams with the highest total standardized score for their team. Medalists were Joey Bloom (Deerfield High School), Matt Osterndorf (Grayslake Central High School), Joe McGrath (Lake Zurich High School), Hannah Loizzo (Libertyville High School), Tiancheng Wu (Stevenson High School) Justin Yim (Vernon Hills High School), Jacob Loss (Wauconda High School) and Karis Wentz (Westlake Christian Academy).
The high schools were divided into three divisions, schools with fewer than 300 students, less than 1,500 students and those with more than 1,500 students (unlimited). Westlake Christian Academy competed alone in Division 300 and will advance to the sectional competition. In the 1,500 division, the top three teams were: 1st place: Vernon Hills, 2nd place: Grayslake Central and 3rd place: Wauconda. In the unlimited schools division (over 1,500), the top schools were 1st place: Deerfield, 2nd place: Lake Zurich and 3rd place: Libertyville.
Unlimited division individual results
Biology winners: Katherine Koebel (Laker Zurich) -1st, Bobby Glass (Lake Zurich) -2nd and Wufan Zhao (Deerfield) - 3rd.
Chemistry winners: Joe McGrath (Lake Zurich) and Michael Miller (Deerfield) tied for 1st, Hannah Loizzo (Libertyville) - 2nd and Jenna Schwartz (Deerfield) - 3rd.
Computer Science winners: Joey Bloom (Deerfield) -1st, Michael Malis (Deerfield) - 2nd and Tiancheng Wu (Stevenson) - 3rd.
Engineering Graphics winners: Ben Edelstein (Deerfield) -1st, Bobby Glass (Lake Zurich) -2nd and Walter Jaskowiak (Deerfield) - 3rd.
English winners: Rebecca Nelson (Stevenson) - 1st, Emily Michael (Lake Zurich) - 2nd and Hannah Gaertner (Libertyville) - 3rd.
Math winners: Emery Liu (Stevenson) - 1st, Elliot Stahnke (Libertyville) and Joshua Yoon (Stevenson) - tied for 2nd and Liyang Zhang (Stevenson) and Daniel Zou (Libertyville) - tied for 3rd.
Physics winners: Jonathan Wexler (Deerfield) - 1st, Steven Schlaz (Deerfield) and Elliot Stahnke (Libertyville) - tied for 2nd and Allen Cao (Stevenson) - 3rd.
Division 1,500 individual results
Biology winners: Matt Osterndorf (Grayslake Central) - 1st, Kathleen Aoki (Grayslake Central) - 2nd and Lucy Wu (Vernon Hills) - 3rd.
Chemistry winners: Justin Yim (Vernon Hills) -1st, Conrad Kocoj (Vernon Hills) and Dhruv Patel (Wauconda), - tie for 2nd and Ryan Curtis (Vernon Hills) - 3rd.
Computer Science winners: Ryan Curtis (Vernon Hills) - 1st, Jacob Loss (Wauconda) - 2nd and Kishore Iyer (Vernon Hills) - 3rd.
Engineering Graphics winners: Nick Kaimakis (Wauconda) - 1st, Andrea Thiltgen (Wauconda) - 2nd and Anish Nekkalapudi (Grayslake Central) - 3rd.
English winners: Matt Osterndorf (Grayslake Central) -1st, Victoria Liu (Grayslake Central) - 2nd and Lucy Wu (Vernon Hills) - 3rd.
Math winners: Justin Yim (Vernon Hills) -1st, Isaiah Liu (Vernon Hills) - 2nd and Tejas Paruthooli (Grayslake Central) - 3rd.
Physics winners: Conrad Kocoj (Vernon Hills) - 1st, Bryn Carroll (Grayslake Central) and Niki Chakrabarty (Vernon Hills) - tied for 2nd and Zach Cinq-Mars (Grayslake Central) - 3rd.
Division 300 individual results
Westlake Christian Academy was the only school participating in this category.
Biology winners: Karis Wentz -1st and Jake Olsen -2nd.
Chemistry winners: Chloe Calderon - 1st and August Smith - 2nd.
Computer Science winners: Ian Gilbert - 1st and Chloe Calderon - 2nd.
Engineering Graphics winners: Jake Olsen - 1st and Carter Fabrie - 2nd.
English winners: Hannah Nalewajk - 1st and Karis Wentz - 2nd.
Math winners: Ian Gilbert - 1st and Hannah Nalewajk - 2nd.
Physics winners: August Smith - 1st and Carter Fabrie - 2nd.
The top two students from each subject in each division advance to the sectional competition at Vernon Hills High School on March 13. The top two teams from each division also advance.
The teams were coached by Joshua Ravenscraft (Vernon Hills), Dave Schmitz (Wauconda), Martin Esgar (Deerfield), Debra J. Hofer (Grayslake Central), Anne Hopkins and Bob Moore (Lake Zurich), Peter Dawson (Libertyville), Andy Fritz (Stephenson) and Dave Raabe (Westlake Christian Academy).
Two CLC faculty members, Rob Twardock (engineering transfer) and Dr. Ana Mazilu (physics) served as coordinators for the competition, which is held annually at the college. "Each year we consistently get comments from team coaches that CLC's regional competition is one of the best academic competitions they attend," Twardock said.
High school academic teams interested in participating in next year's competition, to be held in February 2016 at CLC, should contact Twardock at (847) 543-2903. Schools can learn more about the competition by visiting https://wyse.engineering.illinois.edu/academic-challenge/.
Students or parents interested in more information about the Engineering program at CLC should visit www.clcillinois.edu/programs/egr or contact Twardock or Mazilu directly.