Regional Middle and High School Students Excel at Mines 74th West River Math Contest
More than 500 middle and high school students across four states gathered on the South Dakota Mines campus this week to test their math skills in the 74th annual West River Math Contest hosted by the university.
Thirty-two schools from western South Dakota as well as Nebraska, North Dakota and Wyoming competed in the annual contest which includes exams in Algebra 1 and 2, Geometry, Advanced Math and Master’s categories. The exams were created and scored by math professors at Mines. Free lunches were provided to all participants thanks to donations from the most recent Raising for Rockers fundraising event.
A photo album from the contest can be found here.
The top five contestants in each category went home with awards. The full list of winners can be found here. The top schools were also awarded the Julie J. Dahl Award for Best Team Performance. The 2026 overall team winners were St. Thomas More in Class B and Scottsbluff High School in Class A.
Mines has held the contest since 1950.
“The West River Math Contest is a proud tradition at South Dakota Mines, and we’re always excited to welcome some of the region’s brightest young minds to campus,” said Michelle Richard-Greer, Mines senior lecturer in mathematics and WRMC organizers. “This year was another great success. We love hosting these schools and hope the competition continues to inspire students to pursue mathematics, and maybe even see themselves at South Dakota Mines one day.”
She said the event would not be possible without the generous support of sponsors, whose contributions helped keep registration and lunch free for contestants, as well as campus staff and faculty.
Next year’s 75th West River Math Contest is slated for Monday, May 10, 2027.