On May 6, 2005,
228 middle school students from 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto
Rico, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the
Department of Defense and State Department schools competed in the prestigious
MATHCOUNTS National Competition in Detroit, MI. Hawaii’s Timothy Meyer of
Kaimuki Middle School placed 55 in the Individual Rankings. The Hawaii team
with Timothy Meyer and Dong-Yeop Shin of Kaimuki Middle School, Lianne Ho of
Iolani, and Kent Kobayashi of Punahou was not able to break into the top 25 in
the Team Rankings.
Neal Wu, a 7th-grader
from Louisiana was the top ranked individual. Wu answered the following
challenging math problem in less than 45 seconds to win the MATHCOUNTS National
Championship title.
A volleyball coach has three setters and eight other players on her team. Without assigning any of the positions, in how many ways can she choose six starters if exactly one of the three setter is selected as a starter? Answer: 168 ways
Second was Mark Zhang of the Texas team. In the team
competition, Texas captured the National Team Championship title. Second was
Indiana and third California.
As National
Champion, Wu won the $8,000 Donald G. Weinert Scholarship, a trip to the U.S.
Space Camp, and a notebook computer. The second place Zhang won a $6,000
scholarship. Each team member from first-place Texas won a $2,000 scholarship,
trips to the U.S. Space Camp, and a notebook computer. Wu’s coach, Claudia Allums,
received a notebook computer. Most of the scholarships and notebook computers
were courtesy of the General Motors Foundation and the Motorola Foundation.
General Motors, a
MATHCOUNTS National Sponsor, hosted the competition at the GM Headquarters and
Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center. “It is an honor for General Motors
to bring together some of the brightest children in the country to our
headquarters for the 2005 MATHCOUNTS National Competition,” said Lawrence D.
Burns, MATHCOUNTS honorary chair and GM vice president of Research &
Development and Planning. “This is an educational program which GM Has proudly
supported for almost twenty years. MATHCOUNTS challenges the minds of young
people who are the workforce of tomorrow and encourages them to achieve. The
students competing in this competition set a great example for their peers with
all their hard work, dedication and enthusiasm.”
“General Motors
hosted the event in Detroit and so the students were able to see their
corporate offices which house 8,000 staff and their plants and testing
centers.” Said Rowena Blaisdell, Hawaii MATHCOUNTS Steering Committee
Chairperson. “It was a different experience for the students.” This was
certainly a change from the Nation’s Capital scene.
For full coverage
of the National results, please visit www.mathcounts.org.
ESPN2 will broadcast an hour-long program on the 2005 MATHCOUNTS National
Competition at noon ET on Friday, June 3 and 6 pm ET on Tuesday, June 7.