OTTAWA, Ontario -- Seven students earn top honours and sixteen students are provincial champions in the FIFTH Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge (COMC). The COMC is the organized and administered by the Canadian Mathematical Society (CMS) in collaboration with the Centre for Education in Mathematics and Computing (University of Waterloo). Over 5000 students from all across Canada participated in the Fifth Open on November 29, 2000. Students had to solve 12 questions during the two and one-half hour time limit.

"The Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge is designed to motivate students who have done some enrichment study beyond their regular classroom work and who are looking for a mathematics enrichment challenge", said Mr. Peter Crippin, University of Waterloo, and Chair of the CMS COMC Committee. "In addition, the Open acts as a qualifying paper for the Canadian Mathematical Olympiad which will be written on April 4, 2001."

Prize Winners: The top seven winners in the 5^th Open are:

Daniel Brox, Sentinel Secondary School, West Vancouver, BC; Paul Cheng, West Vancouver Secondary School, West Vancouver, BC; Lino Demasi, St. Ignatius High School, Thunder Bay, ON; Nima Kamoosi, West Vancouver Secondary School, West Vancouver, BC; Roger Mong, Don Mills Collegiate Institute, Don Mills, ON; Henry Pan, East York Collegiate Institute, Toronto, ON; Feng Tian, Vincent Massey Secondary School, Windsor, ON.

For outstanding performance in the COMC, the top contestant in a region is selected as the Provincial Gold Medalist. The 2000 Open Provincial Gold Medalists are:

Peter Du, Sir Winston Churchill High School, Calgary, Alberta; Daniel Brox, Sentinel Secondary School, West Vancouver, British Columbia; Michael Hirsch, St. John's-Ravenscourt School, Winnipeg, Manitoba; Ryan Kabir, Saint John High School, Saint John, New Brunswick; Timothy Hopkins, Queen Elizabeth Regional High School, Foxtrap, Newfoundland; Jeremy Nicholl, Horton High School, Wolfville, Nova Scotia; Brian Choi, Markville Secondary School, Markham, Ontario Central; Nicolae Petrescu, Lisgar Collegiate Institute, Ottawa; Ilinca Popovici, Lisgar Collegiate Institute, Ottawa; Wayne Thompson, Earl of March Secondary School, Kanata, Ontario East; Henry Pan, East York Collegiate Institute, Toronto, Ontario Metro; Lino Demasi, St. Ignatius High School, Thunder Bay, Ontario North; Feng Tian, Vincent Massey Secondary School, Windsor, Ontario West; Rui Dong, Marianopolis College, Montréal; Alexandre Gadbois, Champlain St-Lawrence, Ste-Foy, Québec; Jordan Wan, Aden Bowman Collegiate Institute, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

"All of these winners have done remarkably well on a very challenging competition and have demonstrated the critical and creative problem solving skills so essential in today's workplace", said Dr. Daryl Tingley, University of New Brunswick (Fredericton), and Chair of the CMS Mathematical Competitions Committee. "Students with excellent problem solving skills are vital if Canada is to be competitive in the 21^st Century."

Approximately 80 of the top students from the 2000 Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge will be invited to write the 2001 Canadian Mathematical Olympiad (CMO). The CMO is Canada's premier mathematics competition organized and administered by the Canadian Mathematical Society. "These top students will be busy honing their problem solving skills as they prepare for the 2001 CMO and try to be one of six students who will be chosen to represent Canada at the 2001 International Mathematical Olympiad in Washington, D.C. in July", said Dr. Graham Wright, Executive Director, Canadian Mathematical Society. "These valuable enrichment activities are only possible because many school, college and university teachers assist on a voluntary basis."

Dr. Graham P. Wright
Executive Director
Canadian Mathematical Society
Tel: (613) 562-5702

OR

Dr. Daryl Tingley
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
University of New Brunswick (Fredericton)
(506) 453-4768

OR

Mr. Peter Crippin
Centre for Education in Mathematics and Computing
University of Waterloo
(519) 888-4567, ext 3480