Rock Valley College hosted the regional Academic Challenge in Engineering and Science (ACES) contest on Friday, February 10, from 9:30 – 11:30 am. The event was held at the RVC Educational Resource Center (ERC) in the lower level Performing Arts Room and the Student Center Atrium.

This year, over 130 students competed from 7 area high schools: Stillman Valley, Durand, Hononegah, Byron, Winnebago, Pecatonica, and Auburn. RVC hosts the regional contest, and winners of the regional competitions will compete in the sectional and state-level rounds. Students can compete individually as well as in teams. “Students find the contest valuable from several standpoints, explained Bill Lipton, Assistant Professor, Chemistry. “Since the format is typical of a standardized exam, it is good practice for those exams that they take for college entrance,” he continued, “Most of these students are genuinely interested in science areas, and they can see how their knowledge compares to others in the local community.”

Each team member competes in two different academic area from the following: Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Engineering Graphics, English, Mathematics, and Physics. Test material is drawn from senior high school and college freshmen level curricula and varies in length from 30 to 80 questions, depending on the subject. Students are given 40 minutes to complete each multiple-choice test.

Teams that have placed second or first, and all individuals earning a first or second place in their division, will compete in the sectional competition on March 9 at Northern Illinois University. Teams that advance from regional competition will compete in March at the Sectional competition. Students can advance to one more level of the state competition, which will be held at Eastern Illinois University in April.

Division 300 

Biology

First Place - Allie McLevige, Pecatonica High School

Second Place - Sam Frank, Pecatonica High School

Third Place - Savannah Peterson, Durand High School

Chemistry

First Place - Savannah Peterson, Durand High School

Second Place - Miguel Gonzalez, Pecatonica High School

Third Place - Payton DeBord, Pecatonica High School

Computer Science

First Place - Jonathan Hartline, Pecatonica High School

Second Place - Roger Maines, Durand High School

Third Place - Zach Linder, Pecatonica High School

Third Place - Wyatt Tworek, Pecatonica High School

Engineering Graphics

First Place - Miguel Gonzalez, Pecatonica High School

Second Place - Gavin Fox, Pecatonica High School

Third Place - Josh Erickson, Durand High School

English

First Place - Allie McLevige, Pecatonica High School

Second Place - Wyatt Tworek, Pecatonica High School

Third Place - Sam Frank, Pecatonica High School

Mathematics

First Place - Zach Linder, Pecatonica High School

Second Place - Tyler Anderson, Durand High School

Second Place - Marshal Groves, Pecatonica High School

Third Place - Jonathan Hartline, Pecatonica High School

Physics

First Place - Gavin Fox, Pecatonica High School

Second Place - Rhiannon Robertson, Durand High School

Third Place - Lee Shrader, Pecatonica High School

 

Division 700

Biology

First Place - Lauryn Shank, Byron High School

Second Place - Sydney Smith, Byron High School

Third Place - Elizabeth Henderson, Stillman Valley High School

Chemistry

First Place - Sydney Smith, Byron High School

Second Place - Brayden Baker, Byron High School

Second Place - McKenna Alcock, Stillman Valley High School

Third Place - Maverick Galster, Byron High School

Computer Science

First Place - Jonathan Claerbout, Winnebago High School

Second Place - Nathan Lyons, Winnebago High School

Third Place - Lily Swiech, Byron High School

Third Place - Micah Lyons, Winnebago High School

Engineering Graphics

First Place - Nathan Lyons, Winnebago High School

Second Place - Jonathan Claerbout, Winnebago High School

Third Place - Brooke Claerbout, Winnebago High School

English

First Place - Nicholas Youman, Stillman Valley High School

Second Place - Lauryn Shank, Byron High School

Second Place - Charlotte Maher, Winnebago High School

Third Place - Xavier Heisler, Winnebago High School

Mathematics

First Place - Brayden Baker, Byron High School

Second Place - Philip Broski, Stillman Valley High School

Second Place - Jack Sober, Byron High School

Second Place - Andrew Freedlund, Byron High School

Third Place - Micah Lyons, Winnebago High School

Physics

First Place - Colton Wieck, Byron High School

Second Place - Shannon McHale, Byron High School

Second Place - Kennedy Swenson, Stillman Valley High School

Third Place - Ava Kultgen, Byron High School

 

Unlimited Division

Biology

First Place - Brielle Rach, Auburn High School

Second Place - Alex Crowell, Auburn High School

Third Place - Sinecio Morales, Auburn High School

Chemistry

First Place - Kaiwen Gao, Hononegah Community High School

Second Place - Huan Lin, Auburn High School

Second Place - Alex Crowell, Auburn High School

Third Place - Jacqueline Chen, Hononegah Community High School

Computer Science

First Place - Huan Lin, Auburn High School

Second Place - Paxson Gottschalk, Auburn High School

Second Place - Dain Hamilton, Hononegah Community High School

Third Place - Amber Goldhagen, Hononegah Community High School

Engineering Graphics

First Place - Ian Schmidt, Hononegah Community High School

Second Place - Kaylee Goldhagen, Hononegah Community High School

Third Place - Max Wang, Hononegah Community High School

English

First Place - Emma Caver, Hononegah Community High School

First Place - Guilyana Gamero, Auburn High School

Second Place - Amber Goldhagen, Hononegah Community High School

Third Place - Nyla Sommer, Auburn High School

Mathematics

First Place - Sean Patel, Hononegah Community High School

Second Place - Ruth Mathew, Auburn High School

Third Place - Ekaterina Dmitrieva, Auburn High School

Physics

First Place - Ruth Mathew, Auburn High School

Second Place - Jason McAllister, Hononegah Community High School

Third Place – Sarah Pearl Anderson, Auburn High School

 

Teams

Division 300

Pecatonica High School

Durand High School

Division 700

Byron High School

Stillman Valley High School

Winnebago High School

Unlimited Division

Auburn High School

Hononegah High School

 

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