Mazenko, Campus Middle
School Win MathCounts State Championship
On a beautifully brisk
and sunny Saturday morning in March, the top middle school math minds in the
state met to match wits and problem solving skills at the Colorado School of
Mines. It was the state championship and national qualifying tournament for the
national MathCounts Competition. For the second consecutive year, Austen
Mazenko won the individual countdown round and his team from Campus Middle
School in Greenwood Village won the team competition. Mazenko will be joined by
the team of Rahul Thomas, Edward Lim, and Anudeep Golla for the national
tournament in Washington DC on May 7-9.
MathCounts competitors
are called “math-letes,” and they attack complicated algorithmic challenges
with the same speed and ferocity as a sprinter or a blitzing linebacker.
Nowhere was that more evident than in the Countdown Round to decide the
national team. In Countdown, the top ten competitors from the morning’s written
rounds are called to the stage where they go head-to-head in a “lightning fast”
challenge to answer complicated questions like “Integers p and q are
both prime and p 2 + q 2 = 53. What is the value of p + q
?” in 45 seconds or less. This year’s Countdown posed a huge challenge for
Anudeep Golla of Southern Hills Middle School. Golla, a finalist and member of
the Colorado national team in 2015, was the first name called to the stage.
That meant he would have to beat five straight opponents to earn a trip to DC
for nationals. “It was pretty intense,”
Golla said, “I just kept hoping for one more question.” After reaching the
final four, he succumbed to Eddie Lim of Lesher World IB Middle School in Ft.
Collins.
Once the final four
team was set, the competition became a battle for second place, as most of the
competitors in the room knew it would be difficult, if not impossible, to
dethrone last year’s champion Austen Mazenko of Campus Middle School. After Lim
knocked out Golla, he was bested by Rahul Thomas of Campus MS. But as a
teammate of Mazenko’s, Rahul knew he drew the short straw. That challenge
became clear when Mazenko answered his first two questions in less than two
seconds. The third question which clinched Mazenko’s second state title took a
little longer at roughly four seconds. The speed and accuracy surprised even
the most veteran of MathCounts observers, among them was Matt Bixby of The
Challenge School. “That was amazing,” Bixby said. “I mean study and preparation
certainly plays a role, but that sort of speed is something else altogether.” As
winner of the team round, Campus Middle School gets to take their coach to the
national competition. That means Amy Bainbridge, the Gifted & Talented
Coordinator at Campus, will travel with the team to DC in hopes of competing
with roughly 220 of the top middle school mathletes in the country.
Local MathCounts
director and coordinator Noelle Cochran of the Colorado chapter of the National
Society of Professional Engineers again coordinated the state event, and she
was responsible for organizing the competition of the eight regional winners
and dozens of other qualifiers from around the state. She had high praise for
all the competitors and volunteers, and she was especially appreciative of the
former MathCounts competitors who return to help out. “We couldn’t do this
without the work of so many volunteers,” Cochran said, and she urged the crowd
to continue to promote and support MathCounts. The world of competitive math
“is a great way to engage kids,” Cochran explained, and she spoke with
competitors afterward about opportunities in fields like engineering and data
science. MathCounts is a national organization , and the competition is open to
all middle school students. Interested parties can obtain more information at
MathCounts.Coloradomath.org.
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