MATHletes

02/02/2010

Thirteen intrepid Taft mathletes made the trek up to Lakeville on Sunday to take on the Bearcats and the Kent Lions in what FIFA would refer to as a "friendly."  There were both a varsity and a JV competition.  "Everything ran smoothly and the contests were demanding but not too difficult," says adviser Ted Heavenrich, "thanks to the great work of several Hotchkiss faculty who spent weeks planning, writing problems, and organizing the logisitics." 

First off, there was a 45-minute individual test consisting of 10 problems that gradually increased in difficulty and value.  Then, after a 15 minute break, the teams engaged in a spirited GUTS round of 45 minutes, which combined teamwork, time pressure, and quick value judgments about when to turn in the solutions. 

Our varsity team--consisting of Toan Phan, Brian Jang, Xiaowen Chen, Mariet Kenkovova, Brian Chung, and Julie Nam--won both the individual competition (with an AVERAGE of 29/60 compared to 20 and 21 for the other teams) and the GUTS round 137:126:118. 

Our JV team--consisting of Cathy Chen, Mai Nguyen, Wai Srifa, Jessica Jiang, Claire Wilson, Chantal Yuen, and Michelle Chang--also won both competitions (average of 24:22:16 and GUTS 92:86:76). 

Individual honors at the varsity level included Toan and Xiaowen placing in the top three, and at the JV level Mai and Wai took first and second respectively.
  
"We are now gearing up for the American Mathematics Competition," says Heavenrich, "which is a week from today (Tuesday, 2/9).  I still have room for a few more competitors. We're also making plans to attend the Harvard-MIT Mathematics Tournament on February 20."

THE TAFT SCHOOL  | 110 Woodbury Road | Watertown, Connecticut 06795 | 860-945-7777 | Info@TaftSchool.org