Math team fourth in division
Qualification for state depends on upcoming meets
November 12, 2015
When sophomore Samyu Yenamandra finished her first high school math team competition Nov. 2 at Armstrong, she was excited to find she had the top score at Park.
“I felt really good (when I found out) I got the top score, but I also felt kind of sad because I am pretty sure usually somebody gets a perfect score,” Yenamandra said. “Other schools usually do really well and a lot of kids get a perfect score (of) 14 but if our highest score is a 12, I feel like that does not look really good.”
Math team adviser Kristin Johnson said they do not know how Park scored overall, but on the group event the team scored fourth out of 24. This is poorer than it usually performs, but she said she believes the team can make it to state.
“I was hoping that we would do a little bit better, because I think we have a strong team this year, but we stayed consistent with how we have been in the past few years,” Johnson said. “If you have a poor first meet then you have to really work on raising your (score).”
Yenamandra said she competed in event A, pertaining to algebra, and event D, a variety of math subjects. She said she found the events she participated easy.
“(I did) not find any events to be that difficult, I thought it was pretty easy. The one problem I got wrong I read the instructions wrong,” Yenamandra said. “A dissapointing moment was when I got one wrong because I was so close to getting a 14.”
According to Johnson, math team did not run through any group events in practice, which she thinks contributed to its poor performance in the event.
“(They can improve by) right away deciding which categories they want to compete in, so they are practicing solely on that,” Johnson said. “Sometimes, in the categories there are things that are not necessarily class-taught things, so it (will help) to spend more time on those extensions that everybody is struggling with.”
Johnson’s goal for this season is to score 100 points overall in events and to recruit additional underclassman.
“We only have one freshman this year that joined, so getting some more freshmen and underclassmen to come in and get that experience would be great,” Johnson said.
According to Yenamandra, this past competition did not go as well as expected, but they have room for improvement.
“We should go over past events so we can make sure we know what kinds of problems might be in the events to prepare more,” Yenamandra said. “I really would like to get a 14 so I am going to work for that.”
Four meets remain in the season before state. The next meet takes place 3:30 p.m. Nov. 23 at Park.
