A three-member team from Hope College has won the Lower Michigan Mathematics Competition.
A total of 27 teams from 12 colleges and
universities competed in the event, held at Hope on
Saturday, April 10. The winning Hope team consisted of
three members of the graduating Class of '99: Benjamin
Messer of Stilwell, Kan.; Joshua Metzler of Chelsea; and
James Vanderhyde of Comstock Park.
It was the second strong showing in mathematics
this year for the trio of Messer, Metzler and Vanderhyde.
The three students placed 78th nationally out of teams
representing 419 institutions in the 1998 William Lowell
Putnam Mathematics Competition, held in December, with
Metzler earning the third-highest score in the state of
Michigan.
A second Hope team also participated in April's
Lower Michigan Mathematics Competition, placing 10th. The
team's members were junior Scott Mihalik of Stevensville;
senior J.R. Schmidt of Eagan, Minn.; and junior Daron Vroon
of Jacksonville, Fla.
In addition to Hope, the colleges and universities
that fielded teams included Albion College, Alma College,
Calvin College, Grand Valley State University, Hillsdale
College, Kalamazoo College, Lawrence Tech, Olivet College,
Saginaw Valley State University, the University of Michigan
at Dearborn and the University of Michigan at Flint. A team
of high school students also participated, under the
auspices of Albion College.