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Fairfax County Public Schools teams claimed five of the top eight awards at the Northern Virginia Regional MATHCOUNTS competition, recently held at Robinson Secondary School.
More than 400 students in grades six through eight competed, representing 41 elementary, middle, private and home schools. Participants entered as individuals and school teams across the Fairfax, George Washington and Northern Virginia chapters.
In the Fairfax Chapter, Carson Middle School took first place with Colin Hager, Phi Huynh, Lucas Washow and Zichen Xu, coached by Fei Hager. Rocky Run Middle School placed third behind Aishik Banerjee, Jason Cao, Sophia Chung and Elaine Won, with Melanie Roller as coach.
Washington Irving Middle School won the George Washington Chapter. Team members Damian Anderle, Grayson Gantt, Eren Ogut and Wesley Thaler were coached by Steven Anderle.
FCPS teams secured the top two positions in the Northern Virginia Chapter. Cooper Middle School placed first with Ian Cheng, Jeremy Ku, Henry Le and Ethan Zhang, coached by Estelle Xi. Longfellow Middle School finished second with Yeeyung Li, Michelle Lin, Alice Wang and Shunyao Yan, coached by Patti Freeman.
FCPS students also earned several of the highest individual rankings.
In the Fairfax Chapter, Rachel Carson Middle School students swept the first four positions. Zichen Xi ranked first, followed by Colin Hager Rajeev in second, Lucas Washow in third and Phi Huynh in fourth.
Damian Anderle of Washington Irving Middle School placed second in the George Washington Chapter. Qinhong Xu of Sangster Elementary School ranked third, Sahaj Patel of South County Middle School placed fourth and Eren Ogut of Washington Irving finished fifth.
In the Northern Virginia Chapter, Cooper Middle School’s Ethan Zhang took first place and Ian Cheng ranked fourth. Eric Yuan of Longfellow Middle School placed second.
The top two teams from the Fairfax and Northern Virginia chapters will advance to the Virginia State MATHCOUNTS Competition, along with the four highest-ranking students in each chapter who are not members of those teams. From the George Washington Chapter, the winning team and the top four students who are not on that team will advance.
The state competition is scheduled for Saturday, March 28, in Blacksburg.
MATHCOUNTS is a national middle school mathematics enrichment program that offers competitions and club activities intended to build students’ interest in math and prepare them for future educational and career opportunities.