Students from nine area high schools participated Tuesday (Feb. 7) in Morningside College’s first annual Science and Mathematics Academic Reasoning Tournament (SMART) with Sioux City East High School taking two first-place prizes in team competitions.

Students from nine area high schools participated Feb. 7 in Morningside College’s first annual Science and Mathematics Academic Reasoning Tournament (SMART) with Sioux City East High School taking two first-place prizes in team competitions.

Students took part in individual and team competition to demonstrate their knowledge in biology, chemistry, mathematics and physics. Winning students and teams received Morningside College scholarships.  

The East High School team of Kathrynn McCarthy, Peter Kochevar, Victoria Nelson and Hunter Uhl won first place in team contests. The Le Mars Community High School team won second place in both team events. Sioux City West High School placed third in one of the team contests, and Lawton-Bronson High School won third place in another team event.

Students taking individual prizes included:          

Biology – Zachary Spieler from Le Mars, first; Adam Amicksorvaag from East High, second; and tied for third place were David Le from West High, Parker Clausen from OA-BCIG High School in Ida Grove, and Collin Hillinger from Lawton-Bronson.

Chemistry – Jeff Ahlers from Le Mars and Peter Kochevar from East High, both tied for first; Amanda McKivergan from West High and Stephen Stangl from OA-BCIG, both tied for second.

Math – Jeff Ahlers from Le Mars, first; Kyle Marek from Le Mars and Peter Kochevar from East High, both tied for second.

Physics – Hunter Uhl from East High, first; Stephen Stangl from OA-BCIG, second; and tied for third place were Jose Ayala from West High, Colton Berke from West High, Tommy Nguyen from West High, Dalton Rederick from West High, Adam Amicksorvaag from East High, Kyle Marek from Le Mars.

Other high schools participating in the SMART competition included Woodbury Central, Westwood, Ridge View and Akron-Westfield.