Posted Tuesday, April 4, 2006, The OG, news

For the ninth straight year, Uni High has won the Worldwide Youth in Science and Engineering Academic Challenge state championship for small schools.

The latest victory came on Monday at the Illini Union, as teams from around the state competed for the Division 300 title (schools with enrollments of 300 or fewer students).

Sporting white T-shirts bearing the friendly face of “Ray,” also known as physics teacher/team coach James Carrubba, the Uni squad defeated such top challengers as Marquette Catholic and the College Preparatory School of America. The students proudly displayed their first-place trophy to the rest of the school when they returned to Uni in the afternoon.

The WYSE Academic Challenge is a series of tests drawn from senior-year high school and freshman-year college curricula. The test categories consist of biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering graphics, English, mathematics, and physics.

The official point totals won't be released until later this week. Unofficially, the top Uni performances were turned in by the following students, all of whom are seniors:

Computer Science
— Tom Wiltzius, first place
— JohnMark Lau, second place
— Mo Kudeki, third place

Mathematics
— Katie Carmody, first place
— Alejandra Collopy, second place
— Colette DeJong, third place
— Yuzuko Nakamura, fourth place

Physics
— Alejandra Collopy, first place
— Mo Kudeki, second place
— Tom Wiltzius, third place

Biology
— Colette DeJong, sixth place

Chemistry
— Yuzuko Nakamura, third place

Engineering Graphics
— Sergei Pourmal, fifth place

English
— Sara Sligar, fourth place

If any school can be considered a powerhouse in the WYSE Academic Challenge, it's Uni. Former math teacher Carol Castellon got the ball rolling back in 1996, when she organized a team that placed third in the state. A second-place finish followed in 1997, and it's been top of the charts ever since.

Last year, with Carrubba as coach, Uni won the title with a final score of 471 points. Chicago's Morgan Park Academy placed second with 437.3 points.

To make it to Monday's contest, Uni competed in a regional meet at Parkland College in February and a sectional meet at Eastern Illinois University in March. However, advancement was a foregone conclusion, since Uni students competed only against themselves in a special category called “Division Unlimited.” The idea was to give other small schools the opportunity to advance in Division 300.

— Gargoyle staff