Middle School math team qualifies for state MATHCOUNTS competition in March

Four Middle School mathematicians have qualified to compete at the Minnesota state MATHCOUNTS competition. The team of Zack Berchenko '27, Jack Gao '28, Peter Hovan '28, and Isaak Senaratna '27, took second place in their chapter competition on Wednesday, February 8, earning the right to advance to the state competition on March 10-11.

The MATHCOUNTS competition is a national program that provides students in grades 6-8 the opportunity to compete in mathematical contests against and alongside their peers. This year, the MATHCOUNTS competition consisted of three rounds of written questions: 

• The Sprint Round consists of 30 questions in 40 minutes, completed individually with no calculator.
• The Target Round consists of 4 pairs of 2 questions each, with 6 minutes per pair completed individually, calculator allowed.
• The Team Round consists of 10 questions in 20 minutes completed by the team of 4, calculator allowed.

Additionally, on Wednesday, Zack Berchenko took home first place in the region scoring 40/44 total points and Jack Gao finished in third place in the region scoring 39/44 points.

“I really appreciate the effort the MATHCOUNTS students put in all year,” says Curtis Becker, MS math teacher, and team advisor who notes that the students practice every week during quiet study and occasionally after school. “Each team member has a strength they bring to the team,” he says. “I am really proud of all of them and their work this year."

Congratulations to all our MATHCOUNTS students and best of luck at State!