Math Team places last at meet

Group looks to improve skills for next tournament

Noah Orloff

Senior co-captain Zachary Weiser practices with team coach Elizabeth Huesing during Math Team practice Oct. 21. According to Weiser, the team’s next meet is in December.

Gabriel Kaplan and Noah Orloff

While reflecting on Math Team placing last in their recent tournament at Edina High School, co-captain senior Zachary Weiser said the team will be able to review their questions from the meet.

“As a team, we did not do so great. On our team event, we didn’t get any of the questions right which was kind of sad, but we are going to improve for next time,” Weiser said. “We are going to try and better our skills and those specific units so we can continue to improve throughout the season.”

Math Team co-captain senior Eitan Weinstein said he hopes the team will gain more points at the next competition after placing last place at the meet Nov. 18.

“I think (our goal) is to score some points in the team event because we didn’t, but again we are not in it to be super competitive,” Weinstein said. “Some of these other schools are so big and are able to pull prodigy kids and we are definitely trying to challenge ourselves, but I don’t think any of us are necessarily prodigies.”

According to team coach Elizabeth Huesing, each meet is structured into several individual competitions and one team competition.

“Each student competes in two out of the four individual events and then the team event at the end,” Huesing said.

Each month’s competition focuses on new subjects within math, which allows the team to study in advance, according to Huesing.

“We practice problems from previous competitions,” Huesing said. “Each meet covers different topics, so we look at the topics that will be covered at that meet.”

Weiser said he recommends the team to others for the same reason he participates in it himself: the challenge.

“(People thinking about joining) should definitely join, we are always looking for more people and it’s a great challenge,” Weiser said. “I really like being able to have that extra challenge and being able to compete in different ways that I haven’t been able to do before, and there are snacks which are always good.”

Weinstein said new members can still join, and he would recommend the club because it is an enjoyable experience.

“We are all trying to just push ourselves and think creatively about (math). Usually we don’t think about math as a creative thing, but it really is,” Weinstein said. “It’s also just fun, we hang out and eat good food, it’s a good time to decompress and try new things.”