On April 16 and 17, two Washington University teams took part in the 14th annual Missouri Collegiate Mathematics Competition, sponsored by the Missouri Section of the Mathematical Association of America, at Truman State University.
One team, seniors Alexander Cloninger, Jeremy Diepenbrock and Jonathan Swenson, took first place in a field of 30 teams from 15 colleges and universities across the state.
A second team, senior Joseph Hutchings and sophomores Melissa Lim and Andrew Soffer, captured third place. The teams were accompanied and sponsored by Ron Freiwald, Ph.D., professor of mathematics in Arts & Sciences, and Russell S. Woodroofe, Ph.D., the Chauvenet postdoctoral lecturer in mathematics.
WUSTL has participated in this contest every year since its inception and has taken the first-place position eight times.
Earlier this year, 12 students participated in the William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition in December 2008.
Nearly 4,000 undergraduate mathematics students from the United States and Canada participate in this annual event, which allows one team from each school and an unlimited number of students participating individually.
The WUSTL team finished 48th. Three students ranked among the top 300 individuals, including freshman Alex Anderson, who ranked 145th.