“M-A, M-A, M-A-T-H, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, M-A, M-A, M-A-T-H” was the cheer that the 150 mathletes learned and were chanting on recently at Linwood Howe Elementary School’s auditorium.
At the Sixth Annual Los Angeles Countywide Math Olympiads Tournament, there were 30 teams representing 21 different schools. The students were tested individually and in teams on higher-level math problems.
In the individual contest, there were six students that received a perfect score of 10 out of 10. These six students then competed in a tiebreaker to determine first and second place. The tiebreaker was one problem that needed to be solved in four minutes or less. The students were graded on speed and accuracy.
The first place winners were Cooper Komatsu from El Marino Language School, Edward Kim from Margaret Landell, and Samir Mallya from Farragut Elementary School. The second place winners were Aiden Tepper from Mirman, Clay Skaggs from the Center for Early Education, and Yvette Copeland from Mirman.
There were eight students that received a score of nine out of 10 and had another tiebreaker to determine third and fourth place.
The third place winners were Brendon Han from Margaret Landell, Catherine Dickerman from the Center for Early Education, Edward Park from Margaret Landell, and Ethan Hodess from the Center for Early Education.
The fourth place winners were Charlie Brady from Grant Elementary School, David Oh from Margaret Landell, Maxim Zhulin from Welby Way, and Oliver Marcus from El Marino Elementary School.
In the team competition, five students had to work cooperatively to solve 10 problems in 20 minutes. The team from El Marino Language School took first place with 9 out of 10 problems correct.
There were four teams that scored seven out of 10 and had to compete in a tiebreaker to determine second and third place.
The team competition tiebreaker was two problems in five minutes. This was scored on speed and accuracy. The second place winners were the teams from Mirman and Center for Early Education. The third place winners were the teams from Farragut Elementary and Margaret Landell Elementary.