After winning the Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics State Math Contest for the fifth time in school history, the state competitors from math team marched out of the awards ceremony blasting “We Are the Champions” by Queen through a speaker.
“It just felt really good to celebrate,” said freshman Oscar Lee. “I remember [my teammate] brought his speaker and started blasting [music], and it was just crazy. It’s like a new emotion for me just being able to celebrate like crazy amounts. It just felt good to win for GBN, obviously, and I think GBN will win more.”
Students compete in the eventthat correlates with the entry-level math taught for their grade. Individually, Lee placed first in the Algebra 1 category, junior Danny Goldman placed first in the Algebra 2 competition and senior Stephanie Mei placed third in the Precalculus competition. The freshman and senior teams placed first, in Algebra 1 and Precalculus, respectively. Points scored by the top four performers from each grade are added to the points scored from all team events to determine each school’s performance. The team scored a total of 1093 points, beating the second place team by more than 100 points.
In the individual competition, students complete 20 problems in 50 minutes. In the team competition, two groups of eight underclassmen and eight upperclassmen are given 20 problems to solve in 20 minutes.
Math team is unique because all grades can score the same amount of points unlike other team sports, head coach Steve Goodman said.
“The freshman level is more developing, but when you get on Math team as a freshman, your scores can count right away,” Goodman said.
According to Lee, knowing he can contribute as many points as his senior teammates created added pressure.
“I think it’s also really great that it’s not like other sports or activities where only varsity matters,” said Lee. “If you hear [other activities or teams] win state, it’s because varsity won state. It’s not about the freshman team or anything. So it feels like you’re actually playing for something or competing for something. Definitely feels a lot more fun.”
Assistant coach Mark Lewis, who has coached the team for 30 years, plans to retire at the end of this year.
“I think a lot of our success is because of him,” said Goodman. “His math knowledge and the things that he teaches our kids in the Honors [precalculus] class really help set us apart. So a goal for the future is trying to keep the same level of excellence without him, which will be difficult.”
The team plans on building off of its success from this year and its strong freshman performance in the future, Goodman said.
“To have younger kids doing well and pulled into this group, and they feel included and a part of the team right from the beginning, I think that’s key towards building the success that we’ve had,” Goodman said.
According to Lee, his mindset for his next season is to continue being confident when he competes.
“I feel like putting yourself out there is good,” said Lee. “Even if you don’t do the best, it doesn’t really matter because at least you did something. You can’t win if you don’t try anything.”