Math whizzes battle at regional Mathcounts competition

“Mathletes” from Flat Rock Middle and J.C. Booth Middle gave their opponents a run for their numbers at the 2015 MathCounts state regional competition held at Clayton State University in Morrow on Feb. 21.

MathCounts is a national middle school competitive mathematics program consisting of four rounds that test accuracy, problem solving processes, teamwork, and speed. The Georgia Society of Professional Engineers oversees the regional and state competitions.

The top teams and top individuals from the regional contest advance to the Georgia MathCounts competition at Georgia Tech on March 23.

Flat Rock’s team had a great performance, finishing fourth overall as a team, and with member Andy Huynh earning a spot in the state competition at the individual level. Winners of the state competition will advance to the Raytheon MathCounts national competition in Boston, Massachusetts in May.

The Flat Rock MathCounts team members are Brandon Worrell, Anh Tuyet Nguyen, Emma Bryan, Chase Holderness, Andy Huynh, Isaac Presberg, Sienne Hall, Kati Gossett, Ethan Knight-Scott, and John Suess. D. Monique Williams is the coach.

This was the first year that J.C. Booth sent a team to the regional MathCounts competition. Although not scoring high enough to advance to the state tourney, the team gained experience competing at a regional event, and learned about the many STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) career opportunities available.

The J.C. Booth MathCounts team members are Spencer Utt, Yuheon Lee, Taewoo Hong, Wui-yan “Jovita” Chang, Spencer Triplett, Archie Chaudhury, Chen Zhang, Sungyoon “Grant” Cho, and Kennedy Marsh. Judy Smith is the coach.