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Results of the 2008-09 Competition

Results of the 2008-09 Maurine Dallas Watkins Contests were announced at the national convention of Eta Sigma Phi (the Classics honor society for college and university students), held at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, March 27-29, 2009.  Two of the prizes awarded this year went to a St. Olaf College student. 

Hilary J. Bouxsein, a senior Classics/philosophy major from Evanston, Illinois, received 2nd prize in Advanced Classical Greek and 2nd prize in Intermediate Koine Greek.  Hilary has also won an Award for Outstanding Accomplishment in Classical Studies from the Classical Association of the Middle West and South.  President of Delta Chi, St. Olaf's chapter of Eta Sigma Phi, she served as the Classics Department's Greek tutor in 2007-08.  She has acted in two St. Olaf Latin plays.  Elected to Phi Beta Kappa this spring, she will begin the Ph.D. program in Classics at the University of Virginia in the fall.   

In total 18 prizes and 7 honorable mentions were awarded.  The other winners were from Brigham Young University (4 prizes, 1 honorable mention), the University of Texas-Austin (3 prizes), Hillsdale College (2 prizes), Baylor University (1 prize, 1 honorable mention), John Carroll University (1 prize, 1 honorable mention), the University of California-Davis (1 prize, 1 honorable mention), Truman State University (1 prize), Valparaiso University (1 prize), Xavier University (1 prize), Yeshiva University (1 prize), Northwestern University (2 honorable mentions), the University of Mary Washington (1 honorable mention),

Students must be enrolled in an ancient Greek or Latin course at the intermediate or advanced level to be eligible to compete in one or more of these categories:  Classical Greek (Intermediate or Advanced Level), Koine Greek (Intermediate Level), Latin (Intermediate or Advanced Level), Latin Prose Composition (Advanced Level).  After students take the written exams at St. Olaf in February, their papers are mailed to a national distribution center and sent out from there to be evaluated anonymously by judges at universities elsewhere in the country.  The winners receive monetary awards as well as national recognition. 

In the Maurine Dallas Watkins Contests, St. Olaf College has the best record of any school in the country, with at least one winner every year since 1980.

Thomas K. Halvorsen, a junior Classics major, attended the national convention of Eta Sigma Phi and accepted the awards on Hilary's behalf.  During the convention he ran for national office and was elected Megas Hyparchos (Grand Vice-President) for 2009-10.     

St. Olaf Winners in the Maurine Dallas Watkins Contests, 1980-

1979-80
Kristin E. Kessler '81: 1st prize, Latin Prose Composition

1980-81
Kristin E. Kessler '81: 1st prize, Advanced Latin
Christopher C. Smith '82: 1st prize, Latin Prose Composition; 1st prize, Intermediate Latin; 3rd prize, Advanced Classical Greek
David P. Lenz '82: 3rd prize, Intermediate Classical Greek

1981-82
Christopher C. Smith '82: 1st prize, Latin Prose Composition; 1st prize, Advanced Classical Greek

1982-83
Margaret A. Emond '85: 1st prize, Latin Prose Composition

1983-84
Daniel H. Dalthorp ['86 - transferred]: 3rd prize, Intermediate Classical Greek
Martha E. McNey '85: 2nd prize, Intermediate Latin

1984-85
Margaret A. Emond Kirkegaard '85: 1st prize, Latin Prose Composition

1985-86
Cathryn M. Hemken '88: 3rd prize, Intermediate Classical Greek

1986-87
Jason L. Norton '87: 2nd prize, Advanced Classical Greek
John H. Reinschmidt '87: 2nd prize, Intermediate Classical Greek
Lisa A. Paulson '88: 1st prize, Koine Greek
Andrew S. Leahy '89: 2nd prize, Intermediate Latin; 1st prize, Latin Prose Composition

1987-88
Jon S. Bruss '89: 1st prize, Koine Greek; Honorable Mention, Intermediate Classical Greek
Beth D. Ecker '88: 2nd prize, Intermediate Classical Greek; 3rd prize, Koine Greek
Paul A. Offhaus '90: 2nd prize, Koine Greek

1988-89
Jon S. Bruss '89: 2nd prize, Advanced Classical Greek; 2nd prize, Intermediate Latin
Andrew S. Leahy '89: 3rd prize, Advanced Latin
Jeffrey D. Westberg '91: 1st prize, Koine Greek

1989-90
Jeffrey D. Westberg '91: 1st prize, Advanced Classical Greek
Gwendolyn L. Compton '92: 1st prize, Intermediate Classical Greek; 1st prize, Koine Greek
Sharon K. Hill '93: 3rd prize, Latin Prose Composition

1990-91
Gwendolyn L. Compton '92: 2nd prize, Advanced Latin; 2nd prize, Advanced Classical Greek
Sharon K. Hill '93: 3rd prize, Latin Prose Composition

1991-92
ALL CONTEST RESULTS WERE LOST IN THE U.S. MAIL!

1992-93
Lousene M. Hoppe '94: 2nd prize, Advanced Classical Greek
Sharon K. Hill '93: 3rd prize, Latin Prose Composition

1993-94
Todd D. Janke '94: 1st prize, Advanced Classical Greek
Terrina D. Anderson '96: 1st prize, Koine Greek
Gregory D. Lyng '96: 2nd prize, Koine Greek
Stephen M. Loomis '97: 1st prize, Intermediate Latin
Catherine E. Kusske '97: 2nd prize, Intermediate Latin; 3rd prize, Latin Prose Composition

1994-95
Everett W. Meadors '95: 2nd prize, Advanced Classical Greek; 3rd prize, Latin Prose Composition

1995-96
Timothy A. Schwecke '98: 2nd prize, Intermediate Classical Greek
Andrea J. Ursprung '96: 1st prize, Koine Greek
Mary K. Seeger '98: 2nd prize, Koine Greek
Shawn D. Stafford '96: 3rd prize, Koine Greek

1996-97
Catherine E. Kusske '97: 2nd prize, Advanced Classical Greek
Jeremiah J. Harrelson '99: 1st prize, Koine Greek
Melissa E. Brand '00: 3rd prize, Intermediate Latin; 2nd prize, Latin Prose Composition

1997-98
Paul P. Moran '00: 2nd prize, Intermediate Classical Greek; 3rd prize, Intermediate Koine Greek
Kristel A. Kiesel '01: 2nd prize, Intermediate Latin; 3rd prize, Latin Prose Composition

1998-99
Jeremiah J. Harrelson '99: 2nd prize, Advanced Latin
Paul P. Moran '00: 2nd prize, Advanced Classical Greek; 3rd prize, Intermediate Latin
Matthew C. Steenberg '01: 1st prize, Intermediate Classical Greek; 1st prize, Koine Greek
Kristel A. Kiesel '01: 2nd prize, Latin Prose Composition
Christopher I. Brav '02: Honorable Mention, Intermediate Latin

1999-00
Anders O. Hendrickson '00: 1st prize, Latin Prose Composition; 3rd prize, Advanced Latin; 3rd prize, Advanced Classical Greek
Paul P. Moran '00: Honorable Mention, Advanced Latin
Kristina L. Alton '02: 2nd prize, Intermediate Latin

2000-01
Matthew C. Steenberg '01: 2nd prize, Advanced Classical Greek
Joseph D. Amos '03: 2nd prize, Intermediate Koine Greek
Jennifer L. Brown '01: Honorable Mention, Latin Prose Composition
Marquis S. Berrey '03: Honorable Mention, Intermediate Classical Greek

2001-02
Sarah L. Beaver '04: 1st prize, Intermediate Koine Greek
Hilary J. C. Lehmann '05: 3rd prize, Intermediate Classical Greek

2002-03
Marquis S. Berrey '03: 2nd prize, Advanced Classical Greek
Keeley Esterhay '06: 1st prize, Intermediate Latin; 2nd prize, Latin Prose Composition
Kathleen R. Burt '04: Honorable Mention, Latin Prose Composition

2003-04
Julia L. Kelto '04: 2nd prize, Advanced Classical Greek
Christopher A. Schifani '05: 2nd prize, Latin Prose Composition
Kathleen E. Ess '05: Honorable Mention, Intermediate Koine Greek

2004-05
A. Kirstine Wynn '06: 2nd prize, Latin Prose Composition
Jennifer S. Starkey '07: 2nd prize, Advanced Latin
Elizabeth A. Beerman '07: 2nd prize, Intermediate Koine Greek
Alaina K. Burkard '08: Honorable Mention, Intermediate Latin

2005-06
Jennifer S. Starkey '07: 1st prize, Advanced Latin

2006-07
Elizabeth A. Beerman '07: 1st prize, Advanced Latin
Jennifer S. Starkey '07: 2nd prize, Advanced Classical Greek; 3rd prize, Advanced Latin
Thomas K. Halvorsen '10: 2nd prize, Latin Prose Composition

2007-08

Thomas K. Halvorsen '10:  1st prize, Latin Prose Composition; 1st prize, Advanced Latin
Lisa V. York '11:  2nd prize, Latin Prose Composition
Martin P. Shedd '11:  2nd prize, Intermediate Latin
Kevin J. Moore '08:  Honorable Mention, Intermediate Classical Greek    

2008-09

Hilary J. Bouxsein '09:  2nd prize, Advanced Classical Greek; 2nd prize, Intermediate Koine Greek