2017: Mathias Wanner sets new school records!
Highest score, with 31 points; highest rank, finishing in the top 7.8%!
2014: Two new school records! Combined score of
three official team members = 56, ranking us 60th among all teams; Total number
of participants = 10.
2010: Two school records! Combined scores of all
contestants = 92 points; Number of contestants in double figures = 5.
One constant of the Putnam Math Competition is the maximum possible score: 120 points. One relevant variable of the Competition is its overall difficulty, which results in a variability in the percentage ranking that a given score will achieve. I have chosen here to list the best performances by Villanova students in descending order of score rather than by percentile, though comparisons by percentile will inevitably be made. An asterisk (*) indicates that the contestant was mentioned individually in the official report of the Competition results. Typically, this honor accrues to the top 500 contestants.
Between 1988 (the 49th annual Putnam) and 2015 (the 76th), we have had 112 participants, counting multiplicities. We have had one four-time contestant: Stephen Twigg (2007-2010; 58 points) and six three-time contestants: Jennifer Holefelder (1990-1992; 22 points), Christopher Pilman (1998-2000; 60 points), Will Entriken (2003-2005; 15 points), Kristanny Neal (2005-2007), Patrick Cesarz (2006-2008; 44 points), and Matthew Southerton (2016-2018; 40 points). Our single best official team effort came in 2014: Our three team members each scored in double figures and combined for 56 points; this ranked us as the 60th place team, our highest team rank ever (that I know of). In 2010, five students, each scoring in double figures, combined for 92 points. In 1991, five students combined for 55 points; three of those students scored in double figures. In 2018, three students scored in double figures, combining for 37 points. Two students, both in double figures, combined for 41 points in 1988, and two students, one in double figures, garnered 39 points in 1998.
I hope you enjoy this small piece of the history of the Department of Mathematical Sciences at Villanova University. If you are currently an undergraduate, I hope you will consider becoming part of this tradition and try to get your name into the Hall of Fame.
| Contestant | Score (out of 120) | Rank | % Rank (from the top) | Competition; Date |
| Mathias Wanner * | 31 | 358.5/4638 | 7.8% | 78th annual; Dec. 2, 2017 |
| Christopher Pilman * | 30 | 410/2581 | 15.9 % | 59th annual; Dec. 5, 1998 |
| Daniel Gries * | 30 | 368/2325 | 15.9 % | 52nd annual; Dec. 7, 1991 |
| Stephen Twigg | 28 | 641.5/4296 | 14.9% | 71st annual; Dec. 4, 2010 |
| Matthew Pasquale | 24 | 515/4320 | 11.9% | 75th annual; Dec. 6, 2014 |
| Christopher Kearney | 23 | 690/4296 | 16.1% | 71st annual; Dec. 4, 2010 |
| Yixian Zhai | 22 | 623.5/4230 | 14.4% | 75th annual; Dec. 6, 2014 |
| Abdullah Al Rafi Mahmud (Rafi)* | 21 | 329/2975 | 11.1% | 82nd annual; Dec. 4, 2021 |
| Patrick Cesarz | 21 | 518.5/3627 | 14.3% | 69th annual; Dec. 6, 2008 |
| George Wyatt | 21 | 744.5/2096 | 35.6 % | 49th annual; Dec. 3, 1988 |
| Christopher Pilman * | 20 | 245/2818 | 8.7 % | 61st annual; Dec. 2, 2000 |
| Christine Wilson * | 20 | 329.5/2510 | 13.2 % | 58th annual; Dec. 6, 1997 |
| Yixian Zhai | 20 | 597/4113 | 14.5% | 74th annual; Dec. 7, 2013 |
| Dan Thompson | 20 | 885/2096 | 42.3 % | 49th annual; Dec. 3, 1988 |
| Jeffrey Schumacher * | 19 | 399/4275 | 9.33 % | 76th annual; Dec. 5, 2015 |
| Paul Cornwell | 19 | 1012/4296 | 23.6 % | 71st annual; Dec. 4, 2010 |
| Matthew Southerton | 18 | 823/4638 | 17.7% | 78th annual; Dec. 2, 2017 |
| Alexander Vetter | 14 | 975.5/4164 | 23.5% | 77th annual; Dec. 3, 2016 |
| Matthew Pasquale * | 13 | 452.5/4275 | 10.6 % | 76th annual; Dec. 5, 2015 |
| Matthew Southerton | 13 | 866.5/4638 | 18.7% | 79th annual; Dec. 1, 2018 |
| Will Entriken | 12 | 715.5/3545 | 20.2 % | 66th annual; Dec. 3, 2005 |
| Zhao Sicheng | 12 | 956/4638 | 20.6% | 79th annual; Dec. 1, 2018 |
| Aleander Vetter | 12 | 956/4638 | 20.6% | 79th annual; Dec. 1, 2018 |
| Patrick Cesarz | 12 | 819/3753 | 21.8 % | 68th annual; Dec. 1, 2007 |
| Anthony Lehman | 12 | 691/2314 | 29.9 % | 55th annual; Dec. 3, 1994 |
| Christopher Dzera | 12 | 1204.5/4296 | 28.1% | 71st annual; Dec. 4, 2010 |
| Timothy Pollis | 12 | 1011/2325 | 43.5 % | 52nd annual; Dec. 7, 1991 |
| Patrick Cesarz | 11 | 600.5/3640 | 16.5% | 67th annual; Dec. 2, 2006 |
| Jennifer Holefelder | 11 | 1135/2325 | 48.9 % | 52nd annual; Dec. 7, 1991 |
| Christopher Pilman | 10 | 729/2900 | 25.2 % | 60th annual; Dec. 4, 1999 |
| Vincent Costanzo | 10 | 729/2900 | 25.2 % | 60th annual; Dec. 4, 1999 |
| Frank Simutis | 10 | 1088.5/4225 | 25.8% | 80th annual; Dec. 7,2019 |
| Stephen Twigg | 10 | 1180/3753 | 31.5 % | 68th annual; Dec. 1, 2007 |
| James Phillips | 10 | 1360.5/4277 | 31.8% | 73rd annual; Dec. 1, 2012 |
| Daniel Drabik | 10 | 970/2954 | 32.9 % | 62nd annual; Dec. 1, 2001 |
| Stephen Twigg | 10 | 1196.5/3627 | 32.98% | 69th annual; Dec. 6, 2008 |
| Jennifer Holefelder | 10 | 777.5/2347 | 33.2 % | 51st annual; Dec. 1, 1990 |
| Stephen Twigg | 10 | 1461/4036 | 36.2% | 70th annual; Dec. 5, 2009 |
| Jeffrey Schumacher | 10 | 1634.5/4320 | 37.8% | 75th annual; Dec. 6, 2014 |
| Tianjiao (Jephne) Wang | 10 | 1669.5/4296 | 38.9% | 71st annual; Dec. 4, 2010 |
| Daniel Drabik | 9 | 1453.5/3349 | 43.4 % | 63rd annual; Dec. 7, 2002 |
| Jeanne Carton | 9 | 1168/2468 | 47.4 % | 56th annual; Dec. 2, 1995 |
| Rob Lupinacci | 9 | 1168/2468 | 47.4 % | 56th annual; Dec. 2, 1995 |
| Vincent Costanzo | 9 | 1444.5/2581 | 56.0 % | 59th annual; Dec. 5, 1998 |
| Matthew Southerton | 8 | 1602/4164 | 38.5% | 77th annual; Dec. 3, 2016 |
This information was compiled by Timothy Feeman, Putnam advisor 1992-2019. Thanks to Dr. Robert Styer, Putnam advisor 1988-1991, for sharing his records.
revised: 23-february-2021