×

Mathletes in action

Staff photo by Connor Cummiskey Mark Spengler, right, faces off against Isaac Gieseke, left, before moving on to the final pairing of the countdown round that Spengler won Wednesday during the 3M MathCounts meet at Leifeld Hall. Spengler also won number one individual.

NEW ULM — St. Paul’s Lutheran Elementary School swept the 3M MathCounts meet Wednesday at Leifeld Hall.

The team took first with 48.75 points total. The second-place team was New Ulm Middle School, with 27.75 points. Seven area schools took part in the meet.

St. Paul’s team members were: Mark Spengler, Isaiah Rogotzke, Joshua Giefer and Isaiah Carlovsky. The team coaches were Greg Thiesfeldt and Kevin Draper.

Two St. Paul’s students also took first and second place in the individual category: Spengler with 39 points and Rogotzke with 31 points, respectively.

Spengler won the final countdown round as well. His teammate Giefer came in second place.

This was the 22nd MathCounts tournament hosted by 3M in New Ulm.

The competition has four rounds: sprint, target, team and countdown. In the sprint round students have 40 minutes to complete 30 problems without a calculator.

The target round focuses on problem-solving and mathematical reasoning. Students are tasked with completing four pairs of problems with six minutes per pair and a calculator.

In the team round, the four members of each team collaborate to complete 10 math problems in 20 minutes.

The final round is the countdown round in which students face off in a bracketed competition one-on-one.

They have 45 seconds to buzz in and answer each question correctly. Whoever manages to do so first moves on and the other student is eliminated.

Teams compete on four levels: school, chapter, state and national. All students on a team can compete at the school level.

Up to 10 students, one team of four and six individuals, can compete at local chapter competitions.

The best of the chapter competitors move on to state, and the top four students in each state meet compete nationally in four-person teams.

More information on MathCounts can be found at mathcounts.org.

Connor Cummiskey can be emailed at ccummiskey@nujournal.com.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper?
   

COMMENTS

[vivafbcomment]

Starting at $4.38/week.

Subscribe Today