Talented and hopeful chemistry students from area high schools gathered on either March 10 or 11 to compete in the Saint Louis Section High School Chemistry Contest, administered at UM–Saint Louis.
Places are based on a written test. The Regular Division exam is open to students who are in their first year of high school chemistry (other than an AP course); the Advanced Division is for those taking a second year of chemistry or AP chemistry. Each exam has a multiple-choice section and then a “tie breaking” section that consists of short-answer and essay questions.
Myron Reese, contest coordinator, has reported the results. Clayton High students of Brad Krone and John Burroughs students of Eric Knispel dominated the Regular Division, taking all five places and all Honorable Mentions. The Advanced Division was a little more diverse. Clayton High students of Nathan Peck and John Burroughs students of Marina Smallwood captured 1st–5th places, but Marquette High under Steve Schmitt, Lafayette under Jeff Marx, and Westminster under Andrew Shaw captured Honorable Mentions.
Congratulations to all of the 2017 winners, listed below, and to their teachers. All are invited to Awards Night, April 18th, as guests of the Section to be recognized for their achievement.
We also hope to see the Regular Division competitors returning next year to make their marks in the big league.
| Regular Division | |||
| Place | Student | School | Teacher |
| 1st | Lenny Chen | Clayton High School | Brad Krone |
| 2nd | Andrew Withrow | Clayton High School | Brad Krone |
| 3rd | Carly Galvin | John Burroughs School | Eric Knispel |
| 4th | Aaron Zoll | Clayton High School | Brad Krone |
| 5th | Arko Chatterjee | Clayton High School | Brad Krone |
| HM | Justin Guilak | Clayton High School | Brad Krone |
| HM | Matthew Yee | John Burroughs School | Eric Knispel |
| HM | Marissa Lewis | Clayton High School | Brad Krone |
| HM | Cassie Berns | John Burroughs School | Eric Knispel |
| HM | Gregory Bishop | John Burroughs School | Eric Knispel |
| HM | Isaiah Hayward | Clayton High School | Brad Krone |
| HM | Julia Zeng | Clayton High School | Brad Krone |
| HM | John Nash | John Burroughs School | Eric Knispel |
| HM | Hongkai Jiang | Clayton High School | Brad Krone |
| HM | Katie Kuhlman | John Burroughs School | Eric Knispel |
| Advanced Division The Advanced Division is a qualifying round for the National Chemistry Olympiad. Names of qualifiers for the National Chemistry Olympiad exam are in italics. No more than two students may qualify from a single school. HM = honorable mention |
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| 1st | Tong Zhao | Clayton High School | Nathan Peck |
| 2nd | Noah Sock | John Burroughs School | Marina Smallwood |
| 3rd | Erin Kotzbauer | Clayton High School | Nathan Peck |
| 4th | Huzaifa Khan | Clayton High School | Nathan Peck |
| 5th | San Kwon | Clayton High School | Nathan Peck |
| HM | Matthew Perkins | Marquette High School | Steve Schmitt |
| HM | Elizabeth Nguyen | Clayton High School | Nathan Peck |
| HM | Ian Hudson | Clayton High School | Nathan Peck |
| HM | Caroline Thomason | Clayton High School | Nathan Peck |
| HM | Jerry Zhang | Marquette High School | Steve Schmitt |
| HM | Nassim Oufattole | Lafayette High School | Jeff Marx |
| HM | Sophie Bernstein | Clayton High School | Nathan Peck |
| HM | Gus Mueller | Clayton High School | Nathan Peck |
| HM | Daniel Wang | Westminster Christian Academy | Andrew Shaw |
| HM | Cooper Kennelly | Clayton High School | Nathan Peck |