Mar 23, 2005 - Claremont, Calif. -

Harvey Mudd College students finished 11th overall at the 65th annual William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition, preserving a tradition of remarkable achievement in the event. They competed against 515 other colleges and universities in what Time magazine describes as "the world's toughest math test."

Following is the text of the announcement by Andrew Bernoff and Francis Su, Department of Mathematics faculty and coaches of the HMC Putnam team:

The results of the 2004 William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition (held December 4, 2004) have just been announced. Sixty HMC students chose to take this very hard six-hour exam, which requires unique blend of cleverness and problem-solving skills. Nationwide 3,733 students competed and found the exam particularly hard this year -- the nationwide median score this year was: 0 out of a total of 120 points. However, 45 of 60 HMC students scored above the median!

And, this year, in the team competition, the HMC team of (Eric Malm, Jason Murcko, and Jeff Hellrung) won 11th place out of 515 schools!

HMC's outstanding team performance comes on the heels of placing 5th, 6th, and 9th in the three previous years (2003, 2002, 2001).

In the individual category, three students made the Top 200 List, and 10 HMC students made the Top 500 List, which is a great accomplishment given our school size. Only 10 of the 515 schools that competed could claim more students in the Top 500. Special honors go to the following students:

Name (score) nationwide rank (honor)
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Eric Malm (40) 159.5 (Top 200 List)
Jason Murcko (40) 159.5 (Top 200 List)
Brian Rice (39.8) 181.5 (Top 200 List)
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Nick Rauh (39) 208.5 (Top 500 List)
Gregory Minton (39) 208.5 (Top 500 List)
Jeffrey Hellrung (38) 228.5 (Top 500 List)
Alex Eustis (29) 371 (Top 500 List)
Jonathan Azose (28) 405.5 (Top 500 List)
Reid Howard (28) 405.5 (Top 500 List)
Gwen Spencer (22) 467 (Top 500 List)
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In addition, seven more students were within two points of the Top 500.

We are proud of ALL the students who sacrificed their time, talent, and energies to compete in this year's Putnam competition. Please join us in congratulating all those who participated!

--- Andrew Bernoff and Francis Su, Putnam Seminar coaches

p.s. This year's challenging problems as well as posted scores can be found on the Math Department bulletin board, and data on HMC's past performance is available at: http://www.math.hmc.edu/putnam/hmc_results.html.