Lemont Places Student Among WYSE State Finals Medalists for Third Straight year

By placing among the state’s top competitors in his category, Lemont High School junior Dan Wang kept alive the school’s streak of medalists at the Worldwide Youth in Science & Engineering (WYSE) Academic Challenge State Finals, which were contested on April 9 on the campus of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Head coach Tim Leffler’s squad finished 11th of 18 teams in Division 1500 (enrollments of 701-1500 students) at the state finals. Lemont’s appearance at the 2014 WYSE State Finals was its fifth in eight years.

Wang placed fourth of 74 in the Chemistry competition to earn his first WYSE state medal. His fourth-place finish matches the school’s top placement at the WYSE State Finals. Robert Erffmeyer ‘07 was fourth in Chemistry in 2006, while Justin Stanwyck ‘13 matched that finish in Engineering Graphics in 2012.

Lemont’s other top finishers at this year’s state finals included sophomore John Deuschle in Engineering Graphics (9th/34), senior Jonathan Dzielski in Biology (15th/88) and sophomore Misbah Chagpar in Mathematics (16th/84).

Lemont’s state finals contingent also included senior Alexandra Albrecht; juniors Lauren May and Tyler Schoell; and sophomores Matt Anderson, Spenser Bailey, Taylor Campos, Maddie Coules, Paulina Cygan, Mallory Douglass and Sarah O’Donnell.

Lemont advanced to the 2014 WYSE Academic Challenge State Finals by posting a runner-up finish to Fenwick High School in its division at the North Central College Sectional. Several students earned top-five honors in their events.

Deuschle was tops in his division in Engineering Graphics, and was joined in the top five in that category by Schoell (2nd), Bailey (3rd) and senior Jeff Mason (5th). Other top-five sectional efforts included Wang (3rd) in Chemistry; Mason (5th) in Computer Science; Douglass (3rd) and Campos (5th) in Biology; and Albrecht (5th) in Mathematics.

Lemont captured its regional at the University of St. Francis with wins in six of seven categories. Anderson (Biology), Wang (Chemistry), Mason (Computer Science), Bailey (Engineering Graphics, English) and Coules (Physics) all were victorious in regional competition.

Lemont had three state medalists at both the 2006 and 2012 WYSE State Finals.

The Academic Challenge is a competitive series of tests created and administered by WYSE and offered to high school students in Illinois and Missouri at more than 50 community colleges and universities. Test material is drawn from senior high school and freshman level college curricula, and written by teams of college and university faculty. Subjects include Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Engineering Graphics, English, Mathematics and Physics. Students compete as individuals and as part of a team.