by Taylor Massey
The Republic High School math team is heading into the heavy part of its competition season, but it’s already got some competitions in the books.
In early December, the team participated in its first competition of the year at the OTC Richwood Valley Campus in Nixa. Here, five students qualified for the state competition in April, and the team still has multiple contests through the end of the school year.
The team’s December competition was not only their first competition of the year but also their first competition with a new sponsor. Camry Cowan had been the Math Team sponsor for five years, but the team is now sponsored by first-year teacher Tim Cobb.
The team brought almost 15 students from across different grades to participate. Six of these competitors placed in at least one of their events, and junior Nathan Agius managed to place in four different events: the Relay, Team, Sprint, and Target Rounds. His highest placement was second in the Team Round with his teammates Caleb Watson, Jacob Woods, and Trey Goddard. Agius also placed third in his grade and fourth out of all competitors.
They placed second in sweepstakes out of nine teams as a team, losing only to Springfield Central. Central finished with a score of approximately 167, and Republic finished with a score of 97, 16 points greater than Nixa, who placed third.
Agius, Watson, and Woods, along with seniors Ethan Dicer and Caleb Long, will compete in the state competition this April as a result of their placement at this competition. State will be held at the University of Missouri on April 22.
In addition to state, the team will compete in the Pummill Math Relays, a 40-year-long tradition at Missouri State University. Here, events work differently than they do at most math competitions. Participants are assigned to specific divisions based on the math course they are currently enrolled in. For example, students in a calculus class are only permitted to participate in the calculus event.
However, the ribbons and recognition are not all that Math Team students enjoy. For example, the team meets every Wednesday after school for practice. Woods, who finished 16th out of all high school seniors at the previous competition and has been in Math Team since his freshman year, said practices and competitions like this one have left him with some of the best memories he has with Math Team.
“I think the things I enjoy most about Math Team are going to competitions and spending time with friends while doing math, and sometimes even earning ribbons and awards for it,” Woods said. “After I graduate, I will always have these memories of competitions, and even our weekly meetings where we practice topics that we need extra help with.”