SJA Student Wins Prestigious National Math Competition
SJA Senior Hanzhang “Carlos” Yu of China placed first in the U.S. in the MathCON competition last weekend in Chicago, Illinois. Five other Academy students received Honorable Mentions (equivalent to fifth place in the U.S. Front row, left to right, Qiangyue Li (Honorable Mention), Jaining Wu (Honorable Mention), Emma Keenan (Honorable Mention); second row, left to right: Hanzhang Yu (National Twelfth Grade Champion), Liang Zhao (Honorable Mention), Daisuke Yamada (Honorable Mention).
SJA Senior Hanzhang “Carlos” Yu of China placed first in the U.S. in the MathCON competition last weekend in Chicago, Illinois. Out of 200,000 students who participated in the online competition, only the 500 top-scoring students qualified to compete in the final round in Chicago. Of these highly qualified students, Hanzhang “Carlos” Yu was the highest scoring twelfth grader at the day-long competition, and was named the National Twelfth Grade Champion.
Additionally, five Academy students received Honorable Mentions which is the equivalent to fifth place in the U.S. in their respective grades. They are senior Jianing Wu of China, sophomore Emma Keenan of Peacham, Vermont, junior Liang Zhao of China, freshman Qingue Li of China, and senior Daisuke Yamada of Japan.
According to the MathCON website, “MathCON is a national competition that gives students across the nation the opportunity to compete against other students to enhance their mathematics interest and education as well as earn scholarship opportunities. MathCON has support and participation from academic scholars across the nation including Northwestern University, University of Chicago, University of Wisconsin and prestigious universities in the Northeast, giving students exposure to a diverse mathematics competition and future opportunities within the universities.”
Sharon Fadden, Chair of the SJA mathematics department, said, “The MathCon competition gives our students an opportunity to use their problem solving skills using two platforms; with and without the use of technology. Our students were able to successfully field questions involving geometric proof, geometric and arithmetic sequences, number theory, and probability. Their results were outstanding. They are truly some of the best math students in the country.”
Tom Lovett, Academy Headmaster, said, “This excellent showing by our mathletes is another best-in-school-history performance by this year’s student body. It’s true that success breeds success, and these students will inspire others to aspire to their own type of greatness. I am glad that they got a chance to demonstrate their abilities on such a prestigious stage, and I am proud of how they represented our school. I am sure their parents and teachers are extremely proud as well.”
