Students from seven local schools competed Feb. 9 in a Coyote Valley MATHCOUNTS chapter competition at Oakwood School, with 10 of them qualifying for the regionals at Stanford later this year.
Eighth-grader Ethan Fang from Martin Murphy Middle School came in first place in the chapter competition, followed by eighth-grader Bryce Mankovsky from Jackson School of Math and Music in second place. Aaron Tran and Aadhavan Magesh, both eight- graders from Martin Murphy, came in third and fourth place, respectively.
Murphy also won the team competition for the third year in a row. The top two school teams earned a ticket to the Northern California MATHCOUNTS State Competition. The Murphy team members are Ethan Fang, Andrew Nguyen, Roma Shah and Aaron Tran.
Oakwood came in second place, winning a tiebreaker over Charter School of Morgan Hill in the highly competitive field. Shrihan Dash, Daniel Lelescu, Lee Stilwell and Ayana Wilmot comprised the Oakwood team. These eight students have been invited to compete at the state level, where they will be joined by Bryce Mankovsky and Aadhavan Magesh.
MATHCOUNTS is a National Middle School coaching and competitive mathematics program that promotes math achievement through a series of fun and engaging contests. There were 45 students competing in the Coyote Valley Chapter this year. Approximately 40,000 middle school students in grades 6-8 from all over the U.S. and its territories compete every year in the Chapter Competitions. The highest-scoring students move on to the state competition. The Northern California State Competition will be held at Stanford University March 23.
Students from Ascencion Solorsano Middle School in Gilroy, Britton Middle School, Charter School of Morgan Hill, Jackson Academy of Math and Music, Martin Murphy Middle School, Monte Vista Christian School and Oakwood School had been training for the chapter competition since September in an after-school program run by the American Institute of Mathematics in cooperation with the MHUSD.
For more information about AIM’s free after-school math enrichment program, please visit the Morgan Hill Math website at morganhillmath.org.
The top 12 students also competed in the Countdown Round, a Jeopardy style, head-to-head contest where two students compete to answer math questions the fastest. Ethan Fang brought home the first-place trophy, and his brother, Greyson Fang, came in second. Henry McNamara came in third and Roma Shah finished in fourth. The Countdown Round was moderated by Dr. Brian Conrey, Director of the American Institute of Mathematics.
Top 12 MATHCOUNTS competitors
1. Ethan Fang, 8th grade, Martin Murphy
2. Bryce Mankovsky, 8th grade, Jackson
3. Aaron Tran, 8th grade, Martin Murphy
4. Aadhavan Magesh, 8th grade, Martin Murphy
5. Henry McNamara, 7th grade, Charter School
6. Greyson Fang, 6th grade, Martin Murphy
7. Alexander Nguyen, 8th grade, Martin Murphy
8. Isaac Hwang, 8th grade, Solorsano
9. Vijay Kethanaboyins, 8th grade, Solorsano
10. Roma Shah, 7th grade, Martin Murphy
11. Iris Chiang, 8th grade, Jackson
12. Laurence Huang, 7th grade, Charter
Credit: Special to the Times
1911mathcounts: MATH WHIZZES A group picture of the Morgan Hill MATHCOUNTS competitors and coaches.
