LIMESTONE — Eleven students of the Maine School of Science and Mathematics’ (MSSM) Math Team placed second in the 37th Annual Maine State Math Meet on April 9.
Held at the Bangor Auditorium and sponsored by the Maine Association of Math Leagues (MAML), over 900 students from around the state participated in the academic competition.
Mathletes from MSSM entered the competition in fifth place and ended the day with a second-place finish overall. Bangor High School placed first.
Awards were given to individual high scorers in each grade level and to high scoring teams in each division. Competing schools were divided into four divisions based on student population.
The MSSM math team includes: Kevin McDonough of Scarborough, Rachel Olugbemi of Presque Isle, Braeden Benedix of Kennebunk, Roger Van Peski of Northport, Wesley Zeng of Presque Isle, Stephen Gross of Camden, David Chen of Thomaston, Max Holtzman of Rockport, Andrew Reilley of West Kennebunk, Sean Sullivan of Damariscotta, and Meghan Flanigan of Pittsfield.
Four MSSM students received medals. Zeng earned gold in the senior class, Van Peski secured gold medal standing amongst the juniors, and Olugbemi and McDonough both received medals in their prospective classes. MSSM earned two of the seven gold medals up for grabs during the competition.
Coaches included MSSM Mathematics Department Chair and Head Coach Pete Pedersen and mathematics instructors Dr. Mark Rhodes and Dr. Clinton Givens.
“Our kids are very busy with a challenging daily curriculum. They performed well during the competition and we couldn’t be more proud of their success and enthusiasm,” said Pedersen. “This was a building year for us.”
Pedersen added, “The Bangor team did an outstanding job throughout the year and worked very hard in preparation for this meet. I was really impressed by their sportsmanship and collaboration with our students during the competition.”
Up next for MSSM Math Team members are the New England Association of Mathematics League’s (NEAML) New England meet, open to the region’s top 25 schools, in late April and the American Regions Mathematics League (ARML) competition held at Pennsylvania State University the first week of June.
