Huntington hosts high school math competition
FOR RELEASE: Monday, October 16, 2006
Huntington, Ind.-The semiannual Huntington University High School Mathematics Competition took place Oct. 11 in the Science Hall at the university. Seven area high school teams met to compete for individual and team awards for their demonstration of mathematical ability. The teams were comprised of Ayersville High School of Defiance, Ohio; South Bend Clay School of South Bend, Ind.; Adams Central High School of Monroe, Ind.; Southwood Junior/Senior High School of Wabash, Ind.; Delta High School of Muncie, Ind.; Hamilton Southeastern High School of Fishers, Ind.; and Southern Wells High School of Poneto, Ind.
The field of competitors was an array of new faces as 22 of the 28 fall 2005 competitors graduated in the spring of 2006. After three rounds of competition, the scores were tallied for both teams and individuals. Awards were presented to the top three finishers.
The title of first place team was retained by Hamilton Southeastern High School, champions for six consecutive Huntington University math competitions. The team finished with a sizable lead over second place as the team racked up a total of 455 points out of a possible 825.
Coming in second for the team competition was South Bend Clay High School with 340 points. South Wells High School jumped into the third place position with a score of 305.
As expected, Hamilton Southeastern was represented well in the individual results of the competition also. The first place individual from the first place school was senior Steven Wolfe with 150 points out of a possible 200. Second place was determined by a tiebreaker and was earned by senior Daniel Renner of Southern Wells High School. Fred Pai, a senior from Hamilton Southeastern, earned 120 points to capture a bronze medal.
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 may earn a total of 100 points for this exam as well as for the individual test.
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 earn the student 10 points while questions answered correctly in the second minute are worth five points. In the case of a tie in the individual competition, an 11th individual question is handed out to those in the tie. The first competitor to correctly answer the question is deemed the winner of the tie.
In the final round, the team test provides additional points for the team score. Students are given five multi-task problems best solved through the cooperative efforts of the team. A total of 25 points is possible for the final round.
Eric Throne, senior mathematics major from Stryker, Ohio, coordinated the competition with assistance from Dr. Jeff Lehman, associate professor of computer science, and Dr. Patrick Eggleton, associate professor of mathematics education. When Throne graduates, Kelsey Reed, a freshman mathematics education major from Mentone, Ind., will assume the role of math competition coordinator for the next four years.
In addition, the Huntington University Department of Mathematics and Computer Science has decided to change the spring math competition to middle grades instead of a high school competition as in the past.
The goal of each competition is to support and encourage the efforts of students seeking to achieve great things in mathematics. More information and pictures from the competition day may be found at www.huntington.edu/math/competition.
