High-School Student Winners Announced in UA Physics Contest

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — More than 325 students representing 18 schools and two states recently competed in The University of Alabama’s 39^th annual high-school physics contest.

Students compete for top honors through a series of tests and competitions during the event, sponsored by UA’s department of physics and astronomy.

The top two finishers in the written exam who choose to attend UA will receive four-year, in-state tuition scholarships. Students who do well in the competition are invited to apply to the E. Scott Barr Scholarship program that awards scholarships to students majoring in physics.

In addition to the student competition, the event includes programs for teachers, an open house on research in physics, a physics show and informal opportunities to experience life at UA.

Students compete in both individual and team events.

The following are the top individual winners:

Graham Rutledge, 1^st place, The Altamont School (Birmingham)

Alden Dowdy, 2^nd place, The Altamont School

Wenian Xiao, 3^rd place, Indian Springs School

Chonghui Chen, 4^th place, Indian Springs School

Sahil Patnayakuni, 5^th place, Randolph School (Huntsville)

Kaval D. Patel, 6^th place, and also best performance by a first-year physics student, Mississippi School for Math and Science (Columbus)

Siran Zhang, 7^th place, Indian Springs School

Yuzhao Pan, 8^th place, Indian Springs School

Dawel Wang, 9^th place, Indian Springs School

Yu Tang, 10^th place, Indian Springs School

The following are team awards:

Cipher Competition (Overall)

1^st place — Ranburne High School, Team C

Jacob Ertzburger, Levi Gosdin, Carrie Jamison and Stephen Casey

2^nd place — McGill-Toolen Catholic High School, Teams A and B (tie)

Connor Kusch, Matthew Davis, Patrick Spafford, Chris McDonald, John McGuire, Josh Maier, Claire Powers and Peter McDonald

3^rd place — Straughn High School (Andalusia)

Raj Patel, Brooks Rabren, C.J. Philpott and Andrew Hartzog

Large Public Division

1^st Place – Straughn High School

Raj Patel, Brooks Rabren, C.J. Philpott and Andrew Hartzog

2^nd Place – Homewood High School, Team A

Dmitriy Gavrikov, Connor Biggio, Houston Wingo and Chase Kelly

3^rd Place – Oak Mountain High School, Team A

Ian Jenkins, Jordan Coward, Nathan Hold and Jared Nelson

Small Public Division

1^st place – Ranburne High School, Team C

Jacob Ertzburger, Levi Gosdin, Carrie Jamison and Stephen Casey

2^nd place – Ranburne High School, Team A

Lauryn Cardwell, Hali Wilson, Sadie Smith and Spence Florczak

3^rd place – Ranburne High School, Team B

Blake Young, Brooke Forsyth, Kirsten Hill and Brittney Langley

Private School Division

1^st place — McGill-Toolen Catholic High School, Teams A and B (tie)

Connor Kusch, Matthew Davis, Patrick Spafford, Chris McDonald, John McGuire, Josh Maier, Claire Powers and Peter McDonald.

3^rd place – The Altamont School

Lincoln Sorscher, Robert Denniston, Hugh Perkins and William Tang

Magnet School Division

1^st place – Mississippi School of Math and Science, Team A

Jason Necaise, Kaval Patel, Nicholas Ezzell and Joseph Scott

2^nd place — Mississippi School of Math and Science, Team B

Kishan Patel, Jacob Crossno, Daniel Murphy and Braxton Joiner

3^rd place – Mississippi School of Math and Science, Team C

Nathan Barlow, Magdalen Dobson, Kate Johnson and Hunter Meadows

Kathleen Moon, a physics teacher at Deshler High School, was recognized as the Scott Barr  Physics Teacher of the Year.

Not pictured are teams from Homewood High School, Team A and Oak Mountain High School, Team A.

The department of physics and astronomy is part of UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and memberships on the USA Today Academic All American Team.