SIC Hosts Area’s Top Students for Annual Academic Challenge
Nearly 130 high school students from the region met on the campus of Southeastern Illinois College Thursday, Feb. 7, to take a series of regional exams as part of the Academic Challenge, formally known as Worldwide Youth in Science and Engineering (WYSE), sponsored by Eastern Illinois University.
The event was hosted by the SIC Math and Science club, sponsored by Jason Fitzgerald, SIC biology instructor and Aaron Aul, SIC physics instructor.
“This was the first year that Eastern Illinois University took over from the University of Illinois as sponsors of the event,” said Fitzgerald. “While there were a couple of minor hiccups, which was to be expected with the changeover, overall I feel that the event was a great success. The students were invested in the competition, and the coaches were supportive and understanding of the changes that occurred this year. I look forward to next year’s competition and a long association with the event organizers at Eastern. We at SIC will always be excited to offer the regional completion for the high schools in our district and are thankful for the opportunity to interact with the students.”
Exams administered during the three levels of WYSE competition are designed to test students’ knowledge of biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering graphics, English, math, and physics.
Regional winners, both in team and individual competition, qualify for sectional exams, which will be held March 14 at Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC). Illinois state finals are scheduled for April 16-19 at the I-Hotel and Conference Center in Champaign. The 300 division (or small school division) will compete on April 18 and the 700 division will compete on April 19.
Team and individual results are listed below. Teams marked with an asterisk move on to the sectional competition at SIUC, and individuals marked with an asterisk, who are not members of an advancing team, are allowed to take the sectional exams as individual competitors.
Small School (300 Division) Team Winners:
*Gallatin County High School–First Place
*Hardin County High School – Second Place
Norris City Omaha Enfield (NCOE) High School – Third Place
Large School (700 Division) Team Winners:
*Carmi-White County High School – First Place
*Harrisburg High School – Second Place
Eldorado High School – Third Place
Small School (300 Division) Individual Winners:
Biology
1st Place- *Kiley Brown, Gallatin County H. S.
2nd Place- *Kallie Keasler, Gallatin County H.S.
3rd Place- Jett Spivey, Gallatin County H. S.
Chemistry
1st Place- *Kiley Brown, Gallatin County H.S.
2nd Place- *Jett Spivey, Hardin County H.S.
2nd Place- *Kilee Roser, NCOE H.S.
3rd Place- Blake Seely, Gallatin County H.S.
3rd Place- Makayla Healy, NCOE H.S.
Computer Science
1st Place- *David Matthews, Gallatin County H.S.
2nd Place- *Johnathan Bryan, NCOE H.S.
2nd Place- *Chris Tedford, Gallatin County H.S.
3rd Place- Konner Gross, Gallatin County H.S.
Engineering Graphics
1st Place- *Brock Seely, Gallatin County H.S.
2nd Place- *Chris Tedford, Gallatin County H.S.
2nd Place- *Jayde Pennington, Gallatin County H.S.
3rd Place- Will Henson, Gallatin County H.S.
English
1st Place- *Broden Oxford, Hardin County H.S.
2nd Place- *Sidney Shipp, NCOE H.S.
3rd Place- Caitlin Daymon, Hardin County H.S.
3rd Place- Brock Seely, Gallatin County H.S.
Math
1st Place- *David Matthews, Gallatin County H.S.
2nd Place- *Allen Marvel- Galatia H.S.
2nd Place- *Blake Seely- Gallatin County H.S.
3rd Place- Jayde Pennington- Gallatin County H.S.
Physics
1st Place- *Jaden Barton, NCOE H.S.
2nd Place- *Anna Stricklin, Galatia H.S.
3rd Place- Shaylyn Mayberry, NCOE H.S
Large School (700 Division) Individual Winners
Biology
1st place- *Lydia Miller, Harrisburg H.S.
2nd place- *Landon Gates, Harrisburg H.S.
3rd place- Olivia Wilson, Harrisburg H.S.
Chemistry
1st place- *Anthony Cortes Sanchez, Harrisburg H.S.
1st place- *Franko Teston, Harrisburg H.S.
2nd place- *Annabella Robinson, Harrisburg H.S.
3rd place- Logan Spruell, Carmi-White County H.S.
Computer Science
1st place- *Gunner Peterson, Carmi-White County H.S.
1st place- *Troy Yang, Carmi-White County H.S.
2nd place- *Dillon Womack, Carmi-White County H.S.
3rd place- Seth Mann, Carmi-White County H.S.
Engineering Graphics
1st place- *Dakota Fleck, Carmi-White County H.S.
2nd place- *Nolan Milligan, Eldorado H.S.
3rd place- Kole Phelps, Harrisburg H.S.
English
1st place- Lydia Miller, Harrisburg H.S.
2nd place- Kelsi Kessler, Carmi-White County H.S.
3rd place- Jack Gulley, Harrisburg H.S.
3rd place- Emily Brown, Carmi-White County H.S.
Mathematics
1st place- Troy Yang – Carmi-White County H.S.
2nd place- Nolan Milligan – Eldorado H.S.
3rd place- Cole Blazier – Carmi-White County H.S.
Physics
1st place- Landon Gates, Harrisburg H.S.
2nd place- Savannah Hubbs, Harrisburg H.S.
2nd place- Cole Blazier, Carmi-White County H.S.
2nd place- Seth Mann, Carmi-White County H.S.
3rd place- Hunter Weaver, Eldorado H.S.
3rd place- Sam Winkleman, Harrisburg H.S.
3rd place- Olivia Wilson, Harrisburg H.S.
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1 Gallatin County High School – 1st Place 300 Division
(Not listed in picture order)- Oliver Abell, Addison Bean, Kiley Brown, Murphy Foster, Randa Goodman, Konner Gross, Will Henson, Calen Kanady, Kallie Keasler, Abbie Keasler, David Matthews, Jayde Pennington, Madison Raymer, Lenyx Roe, Morgan Schmitt, Blake Seely, Brock Seely, Chris Tedford, Anna Watson and Hallie Zirkelbach.
2 Hardin County High School – 2nd Place 300 Division
(Not listed in picture order)- Adriana Armstrong, Jessica Armstrong, Jaron Austin, Johnathan Bryan, Allison Carr, Caitlin Daymon, Gabe Fowler, Mayson McDowell, Broden Oxford, Lea Parkinson, Kathleen Robinson, Lydia Seiner, Jett Spivey, Lane Williams, Melissa Winters and Jadrian Wright.
3 Norris City Omaha Enfield High School – 3rd Place 300 Division
(Not listed in picture order)- Jaden Barton, Tyler Connaway, Madison Cozart, Halle Everett, Adrienne Frymire, Makayla Healy, Jordan Johnson, Ty Lane, Shaylyn Mayberry, Blaire Mayberry, Madison Money, Kilee Roser, Collin Sexton, Sidney Shipp, Brandon Skaggs and Wil Sutton.
4 Carmi-White County High School – 1st Place 700 Division
(Not listed in picture order)- Sloane Barbre, Gia Berekashvili, Marie Blankenberger, Cole, Blazier, Emily Brown, Angie Davis, Dakota Fleck, Ben Foote, Gabby Hoffman, Brenton Jones, Kelsi Kessler, Jacob Lamont, Seth Mann, Mason Marshall, Gunner Peterson, Logan Spruell, Justin Weaver, Dillon Womack, Matthew Woods and Troy Yang.
5 Harrisburg High School – 2nd Place 700 Division
(Not listed in picture order)- Brandon Bui, Angela Colby, Landon Gates, Jack Gulley, Paige Gulley, Savannah Hubbs, Lydia Miller, Callie Oxford, Kole Phelps, Annabella Robinson, Anthony Sanchez, Franko Teston, Olivia Wilson and Sam Winkleman.
6 Eldorado High School – 3rd Place 700 Division:
(Not listed in picture order)- Hunter Biggerstaff, Gracie Harrawood, Briley Lenkaitis, Nolan Milligan, Lexie Mitchell, Paige Munds, Sky Oliver, Kyla Pilkington, Natalie Schimp, Hunter Weaver, Jill Womack and Ellsa Young.
7 Galatia High School
(Not listed in picture order)- Jaedyn Beers, Kate Bond, Maddie Grubbs, Hannah Jackson, Allen Marvel, Anna Stricklin, Cameron Triplett, Nick Triplett, Dylan Ward and Kelsie Watson.
8 Pope County High School
(Not listed in picture order)- Josh Arnold, Jaylan Buchholz, Abby Clanton, Emma Collier, Keerstin Fritch, Ryan Greenwood, Noah Hall, Taylor Hall, Natalie Hall, Vance Hertter, Ava Ibata, Emily Nelson, Jacob Rison, Isaac Robinson, MacKenzie Swinford, Abby Thompson, Taylor Threet and Silvia Usai,
9 Carrier Mills–Stonefort High School
(Not listed in picture order)- Colton Betz, Kyle Bristow, Jordan Burnham, Jeremy Choat, Mason Gilliam, Eli Grathler, Hayleigh Hadley, Anahbeth Leiter, Madison Murphy, Mason Owens, Alex Peebles, Gabbie Roberts, Jordan Robertson and Abby Whiting.
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