Hamilton Southeastern wins mathematics competition
FOR RELEASE: Wednesday, October 24, 2001
Huntington, Ind. " The semiannual Huntington College High School Mathematics Competition took place Wednesday, October 24 in the Habecker Dining Commons at Huntington College. Nine area high school teams met to compete for individual and team awards for their demonstration of mathematical ability. The teams were comprised of Ayersville Local Schools of Defiance, Ohio, Hamilton Southeastern High of Fishers, Huntington North High of Huntington, KASH (Kokomo Area Schools at Home) of Kokomo, Marion High of Marion, Monroe Central High of Parker City, Rochester High of Rochester, Wayne High of Fort Wayne, and Westview High of Topeka.
After three rounds of competition, the title of first place team went to Hamilton Southeastern with a total of 657 points earned. The second place honors for team went to Marion High with a total of 497 points. Third place honors fell to Westview High with a team score of 448 points. Gold medallist for individual scores went to Feng Tu, a junior of Hamilton Southeastern with a total of 195 points of a possible 200. Parker Fath, a senior at Marion High was the silver medallist with a total of 175 points for the individual rounds. Nick Peterson, a senior at Hamilton Southeastern, earned the bronze medal with a total of 170 points in the individual rounds.
The mathematics competition is made up of three rounds. The first round is a 20 question written exam comprised of questions from algebra through calculus. Students can earn a total of 100 points for the exam. The individual round of the competition is made up of 10 questions. Students are given two minutes to complete each question. Questions answered correctly within the first minute award the student with 10 points while question answered correctly in the second minute receive 5 points. The final round, the team round, provides additional points for the team score. Students are provided with a multi-task problem that is best solved through the cooperative efforts of the team. A total of 50 points is possible for the final round.
In addition to the competition, students learned a little of the mathematics in magic card tricks. Dr. Patrick Eggleton shared a few card tricks and helped the students uncover the mathematics that allows the trick to work.
Dr. Patrick Eggleton, Associate Professor of Mathematics, coordinated the competition. Huntington College junior mathematics major, Ben Eggleston of Elkhart, was the student coordinator for the competition. The goal of the competition was to support and encourage the efforts of students seeking to achieve in mathematics.
