Two Morris computer science programming teams placed in the top third of the North Central North America (NCNA) region of the International Collegiate Programming Competition.
The UMN Morris teams are Goated on the Keys—Joshua Eklund, Richard Lussier, and Erik Rauer—which placed 32nd, and Team 0—Ash Plasek, John Walbran, Ollie Willette—which placed 34th.
The UMN Morris teams participated in regional competition held February 25, 2023, at Iowa State University. The NCNA region includes Minnesota, Wisconsin, Western Ontario, Manitoba, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and the UP of Michigan. Coach Elena Machkasova remarked that some larger schools allow a graduate student on the team. “Placing in the top third in the overall competition without a graduate student is quite impressive.”
The International Collegiate Programming Contest is an algorithmic programming contest for college students. Teams of three, representing their university, work to solve short problems specifically designed to be algorithmically challenging, fostering collaboration, creativity, innovation, and the ability to perform under pressure. Through training and competition, teams challenge each other to raise the bar on the possible. Quite simply, it is the oldest, largest, and most prestigious programming contest in the world.
