Mattawoman Middle School from Charles County won first place in the team competition of the MATHCOUNTS event. From left are Justin Arter, James Arter, Logan Carter, Thach-Vu Nguyen, and coach Sean Lloyd. Logan Carter also placed first in the countdown round of the event, as well as in the sprint and target rounds.
WALDORF, Md. (February 8, 2012)—More than 110 students from 21 middle schools in Southern Maryland tested their computation skills at the 18th annual MATHCOUNTS competition, held at Theodore G. Davis Middle School in Waldorf on Saturday, February 4.
During the three-hour competition, the middle-school students tackled challenging mathematics problems in a series of rounds. MATHCOUNTS begins with the sprint round, a 30-question test that students complete individually. In the target round, students have four sets of math problems and are given six minutes to complete each set of two questions. The team round allows each four-member team to complete 10 questions in 20 minutes. The countdown round pits the top 12 scorers in a head-to-head challenge which offers the entertainment level of a sports event.
In the team competition, Mattawoman Middle School in Charles County won first place; team members included James Arter, Justin Arter, Logan Cotner, and Thach-Vu Nguyen, coached by Sean Lloyd. Northern Middle School in Calvert County placed second; team members included Sydney Feldman, Max Hakum, John Heide, and Kirsten Southan, coached by Judy Haines. Spring Ridge Middle School in St. Mary's County won third place; team members included Allison Anderson, Belinda Chiu, Bethany Hoschar, and Samuel Nam, coached by Gina Clark and Gary Robinson.
In the target and sprint rounds, students competed to see who could score highest on individual tests. For these exams, Logan Cotner of Mattawoman Middle School in Charles County placed first and Jamie Scheetz of Esperanza Middle School in St. Mary's County placed second. The countdown rounds featured an elimination bracket format similar to a basketball tournament. In these rounds, Logan Cotner of Mattawoman Middle School placed first and Jamie Scheetz of Esperanza Middle School placed second.
The local MATHCOUNTS competition is sponsored by SMECO and the Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary's county public schools, with the support of the National Society of Professional Engineers. Members of the Kiwanis of Charles County and the Westlake Key Club volunteered their time to help score the tests, as well. Winners of the Southern Maryland chapter competition will go on to compete in the statewide contest at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. State winners will progress to the national competition held in Orlando, Florida.