Loomis Endowed Academic Award in Latin
Results of the 2009 Loomis Latin Contest
On Monday, May 4, 2009, the St. Olaf College Department of Classics held its 9th annual competition for the Loomis Endowed Academic Award in Latin. Names of the winners were announced on Saturday, May 9, at the spring picnic of Delta Chi, St. Olaf's chapter of Eta Sigma Phi, the national Classics honor society.
In the Loomis Latin Contest first prize ($300) went to Thomas K. Halvorsen, a junior Classics major from Edina, Minnesota, for the second year in a row. He took third in this contest in 2007. Co-treasurer of Delta Chi, he is also the winner of three prizes (2nd in Latin Prose Composition in 2007, 1st in Latin Prose Composition and 1st in Advanced Latin in 2008) in the Maurine Dallas Watkins Translation Contests. In March he attended the Eta Sigma Phi national convention at Rhodes College, where he was elected national vice-president for 2009-10.
There was a tie for second place ($200 each) between Hilary J. Bouxsein, first-place finisher in the Groton Greek Contest, and Jennifer N. Easler, a junior Classics/English/ Medieval Studies major, from Fredricksburg, Virginia. Easler acted in Plautus' Mostellaria in 2008 and has served as the Classics Department's Latin tutor this year. She was one of the winners of the Bly Award from Phi Beta Kappa this spring.
Third prize ($100) was awarded to Martin P. Shedd, a sophomore Classics/Music major from Ashburnham, Massachusetts. Last year he won 2nd prize in Intermediate Latin in the Maurine Dallas Watkins Translation Contests, attended the Eta Sigma Phi national convention at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and acted in Plautus' Mostellaria.
This year the students who entered the Loomis Latin contest had to translate at sight a poem in hexameters by Marbod of Rennes (11th century A.D.). The exam had a 1-hour time limit.
The Academic Award in Latin was endowed by Kenneth and Kathleen Loomis and their son Stephen Loomis, a 1997 St. Olaf graduate who majored in Latin and Mathematics.
Results of Loomis Latin Contest, 2001-2008
May 9, 2001:
1st prize: Jennifer L. Brown '01, Classics major, from Danville, Virginia
2nd prize: Kristina (Nina) L. Alton '02, Classics and English major, from Red Wing, Minnesota
April 26, 2002:
1st prize: Lauren V. Christensen '05, Art History and Asian Studies major, from Minneapolis, MN
2nd prize: Marquis S. Berrey '03, Classics major, from Galesburg, IL
3rd prize: David R. Schiedler '04, Classics and German major with Historical Perspectives concentration, from Fountain, CO
April 28, 2003:
1st prize: Christopher A. Schifani '05, Classics major, from Albuquerque, NM
2nd prize: Marquis S. Berrey '03, Classics major, from Galesburg, IL
3rd prize: Katharine A. Monson '04, Classics and Religion major, from Beresford, SD
Honorable Mention: Keeley Esterhay '06, Classics and Spanish major, from Englewood, CO
May 5, 2004:
1st prize: Jennifer S. Starkey '07, Classics major, from Laramie, WY
2nd prize: Lauren E. Gioe '06, Classics and Asian Studies major with a Media Studies concentration, from Bartlett, IL
3rd prize: David R. Schiedler '04, Classics and German major with a Historical Perspectives concentration, from Waco, TX, and Stephanie E. Walker '05, Classics and English major, from Sheridan, WY
April 25, 2005:
1st prize: Jennifer S. Starkey '07, Classics major, from Laramie, WY
2nd prize: Christopher A. Schifani '06, Classics major, from Albuquerque, NM
3rd prize: Elizabeth A. Beerman '07, Classics major, from Clive, IA
May 16, 2006:
1st prize: Jennifer S. Starkey '07, Classics major, from Laramie, WY
2nd prize: Elizabeth A. Beerman '07, Classics major, from Clive, IA
3rd prize: A. Kirstine Wynn '06, Classics and Music major from Bellingham, WA
May 12, 2007:
1st prize: Jennifer S. Starkey '07, Classics major, from Laramie, WY
2nd prize: Elizabeth A. Beerman '07, Classics major, from Clive, IA
3rd prize: Hilary J. Bouxsein '09, Classics and Philosophy major, from Evanston, IL, and Thomas K. Halvorsen '10, Classics major, from Edina, MN
May 12, 2008:
1st prize: Thomas K. Halvorsen '10, Classics major, from Edina, MN
2nd prize: Sarah M. Adamson '09, Classics and Chemistry major, from Rochester, MN
3rd prize: Hilary J. Bouxsein '09, Classics and Philosophy major, from Evanston, IL
Honorable mention: Alaina K. Burkard '08, Classics and Biology major, from Portland, OR
