WKU News

Winners of the 2017 State MATHCOUNTS Competition held March 25 at WKU’s Knicely Conference Center are:

• Lohith Tummala of Winburn Middle School, coached by Paula Minar – 1st place
• Dylan Li of Winburn Middle School,coached by Paula Minar - 2nd place
• Justin Xu of Meyzeek Middle School, coached by Carol Bridgewater - 3rd place
• Nikhil Akula of Bondurant Middle School, coached by Robbie Roberts - 4th place

The four students competed against 158 other 6^th, 7^th and 8^th grade “mathletes” from 48 schools around the Commonwealth at the competition. Each of the four students was awarded a full-tuition, four-year college scholarship to either the University of Kentucky or the University of Louisville. They each also won an expense-paid trip to the National MATHCOUNTS competition in Orlando, Florida on May 13-16, where they will represent the Kentucky for the national title.  Each individual student will also compete for additional scholarships, a trip to US Space Camp, medals and other awards.

Paula Minar, a teacher at Winburn Middle School, will coach the Kentucky team. Her team of four students won the 1^st place team position. The remaining top 10 students were:

• Ethan Schnee of Campbell County Middle School, coached by Faye Smith - 5th place
• Alex Zhu of Meyzeek Middle School, coached by Carol Bridgewater - 6th place
• Dylan Mather of Owensboro Middle School, coached by Sarah Sullivan - 7th place
• Samuel Chang of Bowling Green Junior High School, coached by Angela Langford - 8th place
• Adrien Askin of Owensboro Middle School, coached by Sarah Sullivan - 9th place
• Ayush Kumar of Winburn Middle School, coached by Paula Minar - 10^th place

After Winburn Middle School’s 1^st place finish in the team category, the remaining top 10 team winners (out of 28 competing teams) were:

• Meyzeek Middle School, coached by Carol Bridgewater - 2nd place team
• Bowling Green Junior High School, coached by Angela Langford - 3rd place team
• Bondurant Middle School, coached by Robbie Roberts - 4th place team
• Campbell County Middle School, coached by Faye Smith - 5th place team
• Owensboro Middle School, coached by Sarah Sullivan - 6th place team
• North Laurel Middle School, coached by Linette McPhetridge - 7th place team
• Kentucky Country Day School, coached by Joel Morris - 8th place team
• Tates Creek Middle School, coached by Kayla-Noel Davis - 9th place team
• Corbin Middle School, coached by Michelle Payne – 10th place team

MATHCOUNTS is a national math coaching and competition program designed to develop and strengthen math, science, leadership and teamwork skills.  This is the 34^th year for the competition, which was founded in 1983 by the National Society of Professional Engineers, CNA Insurance Company, and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.  The mission of MATHCOUNTS is to increase interest and involvement in mathematics among all middle school students to assist in developing a technically literate population essential to U.S. global competitiveness and the quality of life.

Contact: Marcie Fisher, (502) 695-5680 or marcie@kyengcenter.org