Math Team sweeps competition
November 18, 2015
Ranked 38th in the nation, Diamond Bar High School’s Math Team is a force to be reckoned with. Currently riding a wave of momentum through the annual Math Madness competition, the team is looking to solidify its spot as one of the best in America.
The Math Team is currently in Division IIE and received a bye into the second round after defeating Cherry Creek High School with a score of 37-31. They faced Archbishop Mitty High School from San Jose, who were then ranked 47, on Nov. 4, winning 56-54. They faced Jamestown High School on Nov. 12 and emerged victorious, 70-58. They will be facing Odle Middle School today.
Math Madness is an annual competition hosted by the Mathematical Association of America on the Interstellar website, open to any high school team, provided they have a minimum of five players. Matches consist of thirty-minute competitions during which students try to correctly answer a set number of questions, usually around six to eight.
Coaches can set match dates against other schools or be placed in a round robin tournament format based on each school’s academic level, in which each team takes turns playing other participants with the winners of each round advancing to the next. If the latter option is chosen, then two teams are randomly paired up and each coach is allowed to choose a specific match time anytime during the week. The final score is an average of the top five scores.
The team is advised by Calculus teacher Jeff Brose and is led by president Ava Wu.
The team has placed higher in this year’s competition than in last year’s, a phenomena that Wu attributes to more members and increased publicity.
“We had about twenty [active members] last year, and this year there are more than forty. Part of it is because we’ve been doing more publicity to get the word out, and more freshmen seem to be interested,” Wu said.
Team member Armaan Kohli, who was the one who scored the final point in DBHS’s win against Lawton Chiles High School, says that despite not being the most important member, he still feels useful and proud to be on the team.
“It’s great to be a part of math team. I’m not the strongest member, but I feel like I can still contribute. I also find it very satisfying to get the support of the other members when I do well,” Kohli said.
