CAPE CENTRAL CAPTURES CHEMISTRY BOWL HONORS

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Cape Central High School's Derek Chong won first place honors Thursday in the large school division of the 9th Annual Southeast Missouri State University Chemistry Bowl.

Ste. Genevieve Valle's Ben Weiler won first place in the small schools division, which Valle dominated with eight of the top 12 Chemistry Bowl finishers.

Weiler also was recognized as the top student with only one year of high school chemistry.

Advance High School's chemistry team won second place in the small schools division and East Carter R-2 won third.

In the large school division, Chong led Cape Central's chemistry team to a first place finish. Keith Johnson and Daniel Hilty of Central tied for second place with Roger House of Benton, Ill. Central's Travis Clark placed sixth and Joe Werne placed ninth in the competition.

Rolla High School placed second in the large schools division and Kirkwood High School finished third.

About 240 high school sophomore, junior and senior students from 32 schools in Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois participated in the Chemistry Bowl, sponsored by Southeast's Chemistry Department.

Top 10 finishers in the competition include in the small schools division:

First Place, Weiler; second place, Scott Fallert, Ste. Genevieve Valle; third place, Jennifer Sembera, Valle; fourth place, Ted Hoog, Valle; fifth place, Kim Klein, Valle and Karla Roderman, Valle (tie) seventh place, Kristy Lottes, Valle; eighth place, Bridget Owen, Valle; ninth place, Cathy Reeves, Advance; 10th place, Jami Clarkson of Charleston.

Top finishers in the large schools division include:

First place, Chong; second place, House, Johnson and Hilty; fifth place, David Modray, Kirkwood; sixth place, Clark and John Tranter and Andie Corso, both of Rolla; 10th place, Nick Van Rees, Kirkwood.