The Math Team: Year in Retrospect

On Tuesday, April 8^th, the ten “mathletes” of the Waynflete Math Team made an early morning trek to Bangor to check out the new Cross Insurance Center as well as to participate in the 2014 State Math Meet .  Despite rolling out of the Thomas House parking lot at 6:30 am, and the fact that coach Tom Campbell had brought only “healthy” snacks for the trip, the team jumped right into their problem solving upon arrival.  During the first six “Individual” rounds of twelve minutes each, students solved three problems of increasing difficulty in each round.   The next two rounds were relay rounds, in which students sit in two rows of five chairs, solving an individual problem and then passing a resulting number to the person behind them, who must use it in their own calculations.  A bonus is awarded if all five students pass the correct number.

The meet ended with two “team” rounds where the students solve nine problems, cooperatively and sometimes collaboratively.  In true Waynflete tradition, this year’s team excelled in the team rounds, closing in third place in Class C, 10^th overall in the state (out of 91 teams), and falling only one problem solution short of second in C and ninth overall.  Team members Stephen Epstein (’15), Austin Fanburg (’15), Lydia Fox (’14), Jacob Hagler (’15), Michael Michaelson (’16), Dana Peirce (’16), and Jackie Xiao (’14) all contributed important points to the team score.  Ben Mallon (’16) placed 24^th among all 10^th graders at the meet, Ali Ghorashi (’15) placed 14^th among 11^th graders, and Sally Li (’14) was the silver medalist among all Seniors, also earning a spot on the Maine “A” All-Star team that will participate in the national ARML (American Regions  Mathematics League) meet at Penn State in late May.