Central Methodist University hosted the Dr. Harold Momberg Math and Science Competition for high school students on Tuesday, November 4, 2025. CMU has been hosting this competition for high school students for well over 20 years.
Dr. Momberg was a long-time biology faculty member who was loved by his students. He was known as a demanding teacher, but students understood that he wanted to help them rise to their very best.
“We believe that there is no better way to honor the memory of such a professor than to provide a means for high school students to rise to their very best in this competition,” said Dr. James “Tiger” Gordon, professor of chemistry.
Each year, high school students in the Momberg event take part in a knowledge competition in which they face questions in biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics. Each school is allowed to field two teams of three students each. The teams also participate in a performance event in which they must creatively solve a problem. This year, the project was to design a paper helicopter that would take the longest time to descend from the fourth to the first floor of the Inman Student and Community Center.
“The students always demonstrate exceptional abilities both in content knowledge and engineering skills,” said Gordon. “This, in huge part, is due to the excellent instruction and mentoring their teachers provide.”
In this year’s competition, about 65 students competed from 11 different school districts in the region: New Franklin, Brunswick, Marshall, Marceline, Fayette, Pettis County, Montgomery County, Glasgow, Salisbury, Northwestern R-1, and Smith-Cotton. The top scoring team received a plaque for them to display at school. In addition, each team member received a scholarship to Central Methodist University. First-place team members received a $1000 scholarship, second-place team members received a $750 scholarship, and third-place team members received a $500 scholarship.
The top three teams this year were Nora Vandeloecht and Alex Floyd of Marceline in first place; Aiden Christian, Kendrick Lewis, and Anthony Palmer of Montgomery County in second place; and Kylie Krumpelman and Cash Barnes of Marceline in third place. The Marceline teams are taught by Meagan Wyatt, while Bernie Bader accompanied the Montgomery County students.
“The Momberg Competition is always a great day to be with the teachers and their students,” Gordon said. “My fellow competition directors – Dr. Grant Swicegood and Dr. Shayna Burchett – and I were, as always, impressed with the students and hope that this event will attract these students and others like them to CMU.”