2013 Maryland State MATHCOUNTS Competition at Johns Hopkins University

On Saturday, March 16, 2013, 28 official school teams of four mathletes each and 81 official individuals (193 official mathletes total) along with 35 unofficial alternates from 61 schools across Maryland competed in the Maryland Society of Professional Engineer’s Annual Maryland State MATHCOUNTS Competition at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. These students were the select top finishers from more than 750 mathletes from 111 schools who competed in February at the County level to move to the State Competition.

MATHCOUNTS is a national mathematics competition for sixth, seventh and eight grade students with the purpose of increasing enthusiasm for and enhancing achievement in middle school mathematics throughout the . Developed in 1983 as the first nationwide program of its kind, MATHCOUNTS combines the efforts of volunteers, educators, industry sponsors, the government and the technology community to promote math excellence among middle school students. The mission of MATHCOUNTS is to provide fun and challenging math programs for US middle school students to increase their academic and professional opportunities. A grassroots network of more than 17,000 volunteers organize MATHCOUNTS competitions nationwide. Each year over 500 local competitions and 56 "state" competitions are conducted, primarily by chapter and state societies of the National Society of Professional Engineers.

The Maryland State competition on March 16th began at 9:30 am with the Sprint Round comprised of 30 questions in a 40-minute time frame and assuming no calculators. Next came the Target round, which included four pairs of questions, each pair receiving six minutes to solve the two problems and with the use of calculators allowed. These two rounds were scored and provided the rankings for individual finishers. The score is the number of correct Sprint Round questions plus two times the number of correct Target Round questions for a maximum possible total of 46 points.

The Team Round followed with each school’s four Mathletes working together, using calculators, to solve 10 problems in 20 minutes. The average individual scores were combined with the Team Round scores to determine the top schools.

The top sixteen individual finishers (no more than four from any one school) then participated in the Countdown Round. This round places two Mathletes competing head-to-head to see who can answer correctly the most number of questions quickest. Each round consists of three questions. The questions are asked and the Mathletes have up to 45 seconds to answer. The first one to answer correctly receives one point and the Mathlete with the most correct questions moves on to the next round.

The top four individuals along with the coach of the top team will represent Maryland at the Raytheon MATHCOUNTS National Competition which will be held in , D.C. on May 10, 2013. The Maryland Team going to the National Competition is as follows:

Rank Name School 1 Rathore, Pratik Takoma Park Middle School 2 Dy, Jeremy Chesapeake Science Point Public Charter 3 Krieger, Anthony Chesapeake Science Point Public Charter 4 Byun, Suzie Burleigh Manor Middle School Coach Benae Gibson (Roberto Clemente Middle School – Coach, 1st Place Team)

The top ten teams were as follows:

Rank School 1 Roberto Clemente Middle School 2 Takoma Park Middle School 3 Burleigh Manor Middle School 4 Chesapeake Science Point Public Charter Maryland State Mathcounts Competition (March 16, 2013) Page 2

5 Thomas W. Pyle Middle School 6 Pilgrimage Homeschool 7 Robert Frost Middle School 8 Friends School of Baltimore 9 Severna Park Middle School 10 Urbana Middle School

The Countdown Round top four finishers were:

1st Place Rathore, Pratik Takoma Park Middle School 2nd Place Dy, Jeremy Chesapeake Science Point Public Charter 3rd Place Luo, Thomas Burleigh Manor Middle School 4th Place Byun, Suzie Burleigh Manor Middle School

The top 50 individual finishers are shown at the end of this article.

The Wallace S. North, Jr., PE Award for Contributions to the Maryland State Mathcounts Program. Each year, at the State Competition, a trophy is presented to an individual who exemplifies the volunteer nature of Maryland Mathcounts and who has shown a long term commitment to Maryland Mathcounts. This year, the award was presented to Mike Borowitz, a longtime volunteer from the Optimists Club of Greater Jacksonville. Mike exemplifies our volunteers as he organizes a group of volunteers from the Optimists Club of Greater Jacksonville who help us at both the Baltimore/Chesapeake Chapter and Maryland State Competitions.

Special Thanks to Johns Hopkins University and Nick Jones, Dean of the Whiting School of Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University for his continuing support. Also thanks go to Christine Newman, Assistant Dean for Engineering Education Outreach at the Johns Hopkins University, and Kendra Frank and Jessica Swadow, who arranged all of the logistics. Hopkins donates their facilities free of charge as they have done beginning with the 2002 State Competition.

Thanks to Volunteers: Also thanks to all of our volunteers including Randy Brown, Dave Smith, Sue Smith and Mike Borowitz who ran the scoring room and Randy Petersen who ran the grading room. As all of our work is done by volunteers, we are grateful for these individuals who volunteered and ensured a smooth competition with accurate results.

State Sponsor: This year, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman were our State Sponsors for our Mathcounts competition.

STV Corporate Sponsor: Special thanks to STV Incorporated who supports all of the logistics for running the competition.

Once again, have a great summer and I am looking forward to seeing the Maryland Mathcounts program continue to excel and grow in the 2013-2014 school year.

Joel Oppenheimer Maryland State Mathcounts Coordinator

Maryland State Mathcounts Competition (March 16, 2013) Page 3

Maryland State 2013 Mathcounts - TOP 50 Individual Finishers (Top 4 represents MD at Nationals)

Rank Name School 1 Rathore, Pratik Takoma Park Middle School Member of MD Team at Nationals 2 Dy, Jeremy Chesapeake Science Point Public Charter Member of MD Team at Nationals 3 Krieger, Anthony Chesapeake Science Point Public Charter Member of MD Team at Nationals 4 Byun, Suzie Burleigh Manor Middle School Member of MD Team at Nationals 5 Shen, Kevin Roberto Clemente Middle School 6 Zhao, Annie Takoma Park Middle School 7 Fernandes, Josh Takoma Park Middle School 8 Salgado, Dilhan Takoma Park Middle School 9 Zhu, Daniel Takoma Park Middle School 10 Cha, Christopher Burleigh Manor Middle School 11 Feng, Matthew Roberto Clemente Middle School 12 Luo, Thomas Burleigh Manor Middle School 13 Ramanthan, Keshav Urbana Middle School 14 Lee, Jason Roberto Clemente Middle School 15 Park, Davin Mount View Middle School 16 Wu, David Takoma Park Middle School 17 Park, Justin Roberto Clemente Middle School 18 Shin, Janet Thomas W. Pyle Middle School 19 Bian, Vincent Roberto Clemente Middle School 19 Kelm, Benjamin Chesapeake Science Point Public Charter 21 Margrabe, Gunnie Boonsboro Middle School 22 Budahazy, Ryan Chesapeake Science Point Public Charter 23 Burkowski, Kristofer Chesapeake Science Point Public Charter 24 Li, Jason Burleigh Manor Middle School 25 Tang, Jason Pilgrimage Homeschool 26 Fream, Mitchell Roberto Clemente Middle School 27 Qian, Emma Burleigh Manor Middle School 27 Ya, Alvin Roberto Clemente Middle School 29 Cui, William Takoma Park Middle School 30 Yuan, Josh Takoma Park Middle School 30 Zhao, Lawrence Takoma Park Middle School 32 Chen, Chuan Roberto Clemente Middle School 33 Cao, Bill Clarksville Middle School 33 Hwang, Soomin Thomas W. Pyle Middle School 35 Hu, Jason Robert Frost Middle School 36 Oh, Byoungwook Burleigh Manor Middle School 37 Chawla, Karan Roberto Clemente Middle School 38 Cotner, Logan Mattawoman Middle School 39 Diao, Michael Burleigh Manor Middle School 40 Kou, Frank Burleigh Manor Middle School 41 Sohn, Anna Pilgrimage Homeschool 42 Chan, Samuel Chan Homeschool 43 Ault, Katherine Chesapeake Science Point Public Charter 44 Bong, Seungkyoon Roberto Clemente Middle School 44 Xiao, Eric Robert Frost Middle School 46 Bertulaitis, Meredith Middletown Middle School 46 Chen, Ethan Robert Frost Middle School 48 Chattopadhyay, Sambuddha Takoma Park Middle School 49 Cassell, Jake Hereford Middle School 49 Phatak, Anupama Patapsco Middle School