Mathletes Unite

Maclay Mu Alpha Theta Travels to Orlando for the State Math Competition

Photo taken by Lauren Fantle

After a semester full of regional competitions and preparation, Mu Alpha Theta’s most competitive mathletes traveled to Orlando, Fla. for the state math convention with sponsor John Gussaroff and chaperone Lauren Fantle. They competed across several divisions including Theta (Algebra II), Alpha (Precalculus) and Mu (Calculus). Mathletes greatly look forward to the state competition as a time to bond and do what they love.

“It’s fun to spend time with people in my club,” Mu competitor Anna Chuku said.

In the days leading up to the competition, mathletes could be found in Gussaroff’s room at lunch, community time and afterschool practices. The competitors practiced both individual and team problems from their respective divisions, ensuring that they were confident in their own math skills and ability to communicate within a team.

“[To practice], I’ll usually go to the lunch practices,” Mu competitor Sofia Evers said. “Sometimes I’ll review the formula sheets for calculus.”

The competition officially began on Friday, April 17 with the opening ceremony. All competitors then took part in Ciphering, Individual and the Topic Test One, which each tested a mathlete’s competency in their specific division. For Topic Tests, mathletes picked a specific area of focus within their division. For Maclay, Theta chose Functions, Alpha took Trigonometry and Mu tackled Integration. 

Team and Topic Test Two took place on Saturday. Each team consisted of two to four members of each division. If there were more than four competitors in one division, the four highest scoring competitors in the Individual round made up the team. For this round of topic tests, Theta, Alpha and Mu took Logarithms and Exponents, Matrices and Vectors and BC Calculus, respectively. 

These two testing sessions were followed by Hustle and Relay, which both combined multiple divisions into one team for high intensity competition. The night ended with dinner and a closing ceremony, where meals were enjoyed and awards were presented. Among notable award recipients was sophomore Kai Okui, who took home 15th place in BC Calculus.

“The best [part of being sponsor] is getting to work with students who are genuinely interested in math,” Gussaroff said.