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Honey Creek students win MATHCOUNTS competition

The Tribune-Star, Terre Haute, Ind.
·2 min read

Feb. 19—Wabash Valley middle school students came together Saturday to showcase their problem-solving mathematics skills in the regional MATHCOUNTS competition at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.

Vigo County's Honey Creek Middle School captured top team honors while Saint Patrick Catholic School placed second after both schools had students among the top eight individual place finishers from more than 50 competitors. Other area schools with teams and alternate competitors this year were Vigo County's Otter Creek, Sarah Scott, Woodrow Wilson, and West Vigo and Brazil's North Clay Middle School.

Honey Creek seventh grader Sonia Bavashi had the top individual score while Saint Patrick's eighth grader Michelle Park was a close second. However, Park came out on top of a game show-style Countdown Round that featured the top 24 finishers.

Other students among the top 10 finishers, in order from third place, were: Jack Lalouche, Ava Gonzalez, Judah Minster, Grace Spencer, Leif Speer, Lucille Hu, and Robert Lamberson, all of Honey Creek; Mason Taylor of Woodrow Wilson; and Ariya Dogra of Honey Creek.

Members of Honey Creek's winning team were Bavishi, Gonzalez, Hu and Speer. Lalouche, Minster and Spencer will join their schoolmates as individual qualifiers to the Indiana MATHCOUNTS contest on March 9 at Rose-Hulman. Saint Patrick's team members headed to the state finals are Park, Clara Miller and Micah Reeves.

Honey Creek's team is co-coached by Bob Fischer and Richard Nail while Saint Patrick's is coached by Soojung Choi.

The regional was organized by Rose-Hulman mathematics professor Leanne Holder with assistance from faculty colleagues Mario Simoni, John Rickert, Stephanie Hill, and Simon Jones, along with Math Department administrative assistant Katie Lindsey and several Rose-Hulman student volunteers.

Organized by the Indiana Society for Professional Engineers' Francis Vigo chapter and Rose-Hulman's Department of Mathematics, MATHCOUNTS is one of the nation's largest and most successful education partnerships, according to a release from the institution. It increases academic and professional opportunities for sixth, seventh and eighth grade students. Each student participates in three rounds of competition: Sprint, testing quickness to solve problems; Target, testing problem-solving skills; and Team, testing teamwork abilities.