Dragon Mathletes Win at Local and State Competitions! From NYC MoMathalon and Tournament of Champions to the Manhattan and State MATHCOUNTS, Speyer’s Math Team Dominates!
Over the past few months, Speyer’s Math Team trekked to local and state competitions, making quite a splash and winning high honors for our school!
In December, Speyer participated for the first time in the National Museum of Mathematics’ MoMathalon competition. At the New York City contest, the Dragons — seventh graders Rui C., Bret H., Jordy L., and Jeffrey Z., and sixth grader Zameer R.— finished FIRST out of 40 teams! In the individual rankings, Bret, Jordy, and Jeffrey finished first, second, and fifth, respectively, among all students in Grade 7 or lower.
Speyer’s Math Team victory in the regional competition earned them a spot in January’s Tournament of Champions, which was held at the museum itself (popularly known as MoMath). The kids were given VIP treatment, allowed to explore the museum’s exhibits for more than an hour before competition commenced. Speyer did not win the Tournament of Champions outright, but did finish “in the money”, earning the third place trophy (and having a great time doing it!).
It was then time for Manhattan MATHCOUNTS. Speyer’s Math Team competed at the massive meet (38 teams and over 300 individual contestants) with the hope of ranking in the top five team-wise to move onto the state competition. Well, they did more than that – they won FIRST PLACE (for the first time in Speyer's history)! This means Speyer beat out all of the teams from the biggest schools from around the city!
Representing Speyer were: eighth graders Chris L., Lucas H., Konstantine O., Eli B., Peter N., and Nathaniel B.; seventh graders Jordy L., Bret H., and Jeffrey Z.; and sixth graders Zameer R., Lindeng S., and Evelyn Y.!
Many of our Speyer Mathletes earned excellent individual rankings at the Manhattan MATHCOUNTS, including Jordy, Chris, and Bret who tied for second, Jeffrey who placed 15th, and Lucas who placed 20th! Four of our Dragons (Jordy, Chris, Bret, and Jeffrey) also participated in the prestigious Countdown Round, a ceremonial, culminating "game show," in which the top 16 contestants in the meet face off against each other in front of an audience of hundreds!
Speyer's Math Team then trekked to Saratoga Springs for the New York State MATHCOUNTS Competition in March. And the results? Our amazing Mathletes won THIRD PLACE — a tie for the best statewide finish in our school's history! In addition, Speyer ranked first among the five Manhattan schools and finished just behind two powerhouse teams from Long Island, Jericho and Great Neck South. Speyer was represented by Christoffer L., Lucas H., Jordy L., and Bret H., our team of four, along with our first alternate, Jeffrey Z. Christoffer had the particular honor of competing in the prestigious Countdown Round, a public tournament reserved for the top 12 individual contestants (out of hundreds), in which he made the semi-finals.
We're all extremely proud of all of our Speyer Mathletes who worked so hard all year long — and shout-out to our wonderful Math team coaches! GO DRAGONS!