D-15 Sends Two MATHCOUNTS Teams to State

Once again, Plum grove takes first and Winston Campus finishes third

MATHCOUNTS teams from Plum Grove and Winston Campus Junior Highs are headed to state after excelling in their regional competitions, which were held Saturday, February 4, at Oakton Community College.

For the fourth year in a row, Plum Grove’s MATHCOUNTS team took first place in the regional competition. Also, for the second consecutive year, Winston Campus took third place, which was a strong enough finish to propel the team into the state competition, which will be held Saturday, March 3, in Lisle. Carl Sandburg Junior High’s MATHCOUNTs team and students from Hunting Ridge School’s Math Club also participated in the regional competition.

In individual competition, six District 15 students posted top-10 finishes.

• Emily Jia, an eighth grader at Plum Grove, finished first;
• Angie Peng, and eighth grader at Plum Grove, finished third;
• James Feng, an eighth grader at Plum Grove, finished fourth;
• Emery Liu, an eighth grader at Winston Campus, finished sixth;
• George Moe, a seventh grader at Plum Grove, finished seventh; and
• Mark Guo, an eighth grader at Plum Grove, finished ninth.

Their top-10 finishes allowed them to participate in the Countdown Round, where Emily Jia again finished first, and Mark Guo finished second.

Additionally, Kevin Chen, a sixth grader at Hunting Ridge School, earned a spot at the state competition by finishing 12th in individual competition. Also, Ann Rajan, a eighth grader at Plum Grove, Brandon Canfield, a seventh grader at Winston Campus, and Akash Mukherjee, a seventh grader at Plum Grove, all turned in top-20 performances, finishing 15th, 16th, and 19th, respectively.

In all, nine of the 10 Plum Grove students who competed, and six of the 11 Winston Campus students who participated, placed in the top quarter of the approximately 180 students who took part in the competition.

Sponsored by the Professional Society of Engineers, MATHCOUNTS is a national enrichment, coaching, and competition program that promotes middle school mathematics achievement and provides today’s students with the foundation for success in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics careers.

Now in its 29th year, MATHCOUNTS is one of the country’s largest and most successful education partnerships involving volunteers, educators, industry sponsors, and students.

District 15 MATHCOUNTS teams:*

PLUM GROVE

Team members: James Feng, Mark Guo, Emily Jia, and Ann Rajan

Individual participants: Andy Hong, Chiranth Kishore, George Moe, Akash Mukherjee, Angie Peng, and Emily Yin

Coaches: Marianne Schultz and Dr. Krish Revuluri

WINSTON CAMPUS

Team members: Brandon Canfield, Emery Liu, Bryan Lu, and Timothy Mathew

Individual participants: Anaya Bhattacharya, Andy Cai, Kyle Combs, Diana Funez, and Radin Marinoff

Coaches: Ralph Banasiak and Chris Lucht and volunteers Margaret Koy and Michael Banasiak.

CARL SANDBURG

Team members: Nikil Badey, Melissa Byrd, Lauren Cardoza, Julia Dirkes-Jacks, Sidney Hill, and Jenny Whidden

Coach: Lina Storti

HUNTING RIDGE

Team members: Kevin Chen, Steve Yu, Sharon Kim, Jake Yeom, Nathaniel Lee, Shyam Sai, Suchet Kumar and Andy Popovich

Coach: Sonja Nilsen

-Story Submitted by Community Consolidated School District 15