Posted 3/28/01
NB Math League turns in solid finish at state meet
By Danielle Strenke
The North Branch Math League recently capped off a successful season by placing 26th at the State Math League competition, held March 12 at Eagan High School.
Math teams from across the state competed at the state event, only with an invitation from the Minnesota State High School Math League. Teams finishing in first place in their conference were allowed to compete; North Branch has earned first place honors in the Rum River conference for the last four years.
An eight-member team competed at the state tournament, representing the conference. One individual member from the conference ñ a student from Mora ñ also represented the conference at Eagan.
The North Branch team compiled enough points to place 26th in the field of 52 teams. The team from St. Paul Central captured the state title.
Through guidance from instructor Linda Coleman, a math instructor at North Branch High School, the team of 15-16 students have been competing at the conference level since November. The team meets for practices once a week, and participates in a conference meet once a month.
Schools in North Branchís conference include Cambridge-Isanti, Mora, Princeton, Sauk Rapids, Foley, and Chisago Lakes.
North Branch won the conference finals Feb. 12 at Cambridge-Isanti High School to advance to the state tourney.
The meets consist of all the team members working individually to answer four math problems within a 12-minute time span. Different point values are assigned to each question. The top eight scores are used in scoring for the meet.
At the state competition, four points are awarded for each correct question. The eight-member team has 30 minutes to answer six questions.
Math applications used in the problems include algebra, geometry, trigonometry, quadratic and polynomial equations, analytic geometry, and puzzle problems. Coleman said the state competition is operated in much the same way as the conference meets, with the exception of a ìfun onlyî speed round event, called the Math Bowl.
During the Math Bowl, the top ten individual scorers from events earlier in the day compete for the top prize.
The Math Bowl is a quick response event, in which the students sit in front of an audience, and try to come up with answers to complex math problems within a time span of 30-45 seconds.
ìThat is different for the team, because they see these students up there answering problems extremely fast and under pressure ñ itís a real eye opener to see,î Coleman said.
Coleman is extremely pleased with the success of the math league this year.
One team member, Jay Clawson, finished the season with the first place individual title in the conference, and ranked 12th in the state - a big accomplishment considering math league members across the state number over 3,000.
The North Branch Math League was started by Coleman 12 years ago. The students involved in the program, she said, are gifted at mathematics and want to challenge themselves in the competitive environment of the math league meets.
Math League is open to students in grades nine through twelve, and there is also a junior high team, run by advisor Bruce Anderson.
Coleman said most of the students who join the team in ninth grade usually stay with the team throughout high school. ìThat has helped us to be so successful,î she said.
The Math League was founded in 1980 by Wayne Roberts, chairperson of the math/computer science department at Macalester College. He designed it to give recognition, encouragement, and increased opportunities to Minnesota students who have interest and talent in mathematics. This year marked the 17th annual State Math League competition.