High-School Student Winners Announced in UA Physics Contest

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — More than 200 students representing 19 schools and three states recently competed in The University of Alabama’s 38^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:

James Parkes, of Spanish Fort, Home Schooled, 1^st Place and also best performance by a first-year physics student

Joe Fang, Darlington School (Rome, Ga.), 2^nd Place

Wenlan Xiao, Indian Springs School, 3^rd Place

David Wang, Indian Springs School, 4th place

Collin Phillips, McGill-Toolen Catholic High School (Mobile), 5^th Place

Matthew Davis,  McGill-Toolen Catholic High School, 6^th Place

Siran Zhang, Indian Springs School, 7^th Place

Yuzhao Pan, Indian Springs School, 8^th Place

Austin G. Li, Mississippi School for Math and Science (Columbus), 9^th Place

Indra Sofian, Darlington School, 10^th Place

The following are team awards:

Cipher Competition (Overall)

1^st Place – McGill Toolen Catholic High School (Mobile)

Chris McDonald, Matthew Davis, Jacob Jagiello and Collin Phillips

Large Public Division

1^st Place – Oak Mountain High School, Team 2

Margaret Hayes, Jackson Hyde, Ransom Creech and Hannah Slay

2^nd Place – Oak Mountain High School, Team 1

Terry Choi, Brad Giordano, Kacie Moran and Kyle Ehlers

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

Alyssa Lamb, Emma Clark, Hayden McDaniel and Tony Portante

Small Public Division

1^st Place – Ranburne High School, Team 2

Mark David Smith, Lauryn Cardwell, Spence Florczak and Sadie Smith

2^nd Place – Ranburne High School, Team 1

Cole Yearta, Spencer Gibbs,  Stephanie Benefield and Daniel Evans

3^rd Place – Ranburne High School, Team 4

Jacob Ertzberger, Brittany Langley, Hali Wilson and Carrie Jamison

Private School Division

1^st Place – McGill Toolen Catholic High School, Team 1 

Chris McDonald, Matthew Davis, Jacob Jagiello and Collin Phillips

Second Place – Indian Springs High School, Team 1

Yuzhao Pan, Dawei (David) Wang, Siran (Sylvan) Zhang and Vivienne Zhao

Third Place – Darlington School (Rome, Ga.), Team 1

Joe Fang, Sabrina Tang, Po Olaranont and Dingding Wang

Magnet School Division

1^st Place – Mississippi School for Math and Science, Team 6

Jordan Barclay, Sabrina Moore, Shaquela Hargrove and Adina Harri

2^nd Place –Mississippi School for Math and Science, Team 1

Brandon Plaisted, Monica Kala, David Yan and Austin Li

Third Place – Mississippi School for Math and Science, Team 2

Alex Portee, Ben Emmich, Brandon Truong and Kate Johnson

Photos not available for the Oak Mountain team.