Barrington, Cary, Crystal Lake students take honors at contest
Richmond-Burton and Barrington high schools were the top winners in two divisions in the 2008 McHenry County Worldwide Youth in Science and Engineering, or WYSE, competition, hosted by McHenry County College on Feb. 8.
Richmond-Burton High earned first place with a team score of 500 in Division 1,500 (301 to 1,500 students), and Crystal Lake Central High School finished second with a score of 449. Barrington earned first place with a team score of 486, and Cary-Grove High School placed second with a team score of 464 in Division Unlimited (1,500 or more students).
These four teams qualify for the sectional competition March 14 at Vernon Hills High School. Those winners will advance to a state competition in April.
In total, 13 area high schools participated, with more than 200 students competing for top scores in seven academic areas: biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering, English, math, and physics.
The test is conducted by the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
"This year we had to reschedule the WYSE competition due to a large snowstorm causing many school cancellations," said Robert Whittaker, executive dean for MCC's mathematics, science and horticulture division.
"Fortunately, that did not put a chill on the rescheduled competition; the turnout was great and the students brought with them the same high level of enthusiasm for the competition as they did in previous years."
These students will advance to sectionals:
Division 300
Advancing for biology: Alden-Hebron High School's Bill Wooten, Cory Dorfner and Zack Kleven
Advancing for chemistry: Alden-Hebron High School's Dillon Lalor and Gerrett Layoff
Advancing for computer science: Alden-Hebron High School's Dustin Regal
Advancing for engineering graphics: Alden-Hebron High School's Zack Kleven and Annelise Hanson
Advancing for English: Alden-Hebron High School's Madelyn Walters and Heather Skelton
Advancing for math: Alden-Hebron High School's Cory Dorfner and Gerrett Layoff
Advancing for physics: Alden-Hebron High School's Dustin Regal, Jamie Nagy
Division 1,500
Advancing for biology: Richmond-Burton High School's Kelsey Flood and Blair Rummel
Advancing for chemistry: Richmond-Burton High School's Johnny Craffey, Jamie Kelly; Johnsburg High School's Chris Aavang
Advancing for computer science: Crystal Lake Central High School's Tyler Huberty; Richmond-Burton High School's Ryan Cook
Advancing for engineering graphics: Richmond Burton High School's Johnny Craffey; Johnsburg High School's John Van Hoorn
Advancing for English: Richmond-Burton High School's Jenna Haak, Adina Raizen.
Advancing for math: Richmond-Burton High School's Jamie Kelly and Andrew Anderson
Advancing for physics: Crystal Lake Central High School's Tyler Huberty and William Bindi
Division Unlimited
Advancing for biology: Woodstock High School's Ellyn Krieg; Crystal Lake South High School's Rosa Ventrella
Advancing for chemistry: Crystal Lake South High School's Corey Fry; Barrington High School's John Rosenberg and Lauren Janas; Cary-Grove High School's Mike Thomson
Advancing for computer science: Cary-Grove High School's Pawel Latawiec and Kevin Lang
Advancing for engineering graphics: Prairie Ridge High School's Kurt Neiweem; McHenry High School West's Matthew Barrett
Advancing for English: Crystal Lake South High School's Paulina Sliwinska; Woodstock High School's Steve Grechis
Advancing for math: Crystal Lake South High School's Corey Fry; Barrington High School's Zahra Walj
Advancing for physics: Barrington High School's Lauren Janas; McHenry High School West's Marshall Schaeffer.