6 students win in Mathcourt regionals, advance to nationals

Six students earned spots on the trip to Kansas City, Missouri in May this year after winning the regional Mathcourt competition last Saturday at the Saipan Southern High School.

This year’s CNMI team for the national Mathcourt tilt is composed of gold medalist Han Byol Yun, silver medal awardee Manatsu Omori, and bronze winner Jessica Lee. All three hail from Marianas Baptist Academy.

Joining them in the team are fourth and fifth placers Won Woo Choi and Hyun Bin Hwang from MBA and SSHS, respectively.

Also included in the national team is Dong Gu Hyon, the gold medalist in the middle school division.

Dora Miura, coordinator for the Mathcourt competition for 6th-12th grade division, disclosed Saturday that the regional contest yielded 40 participants from private and public high schools. Finalists were ribbon and medal winners in the first three preliminary rounds conducted since October.

The CNMI team will be coached by Manny Borja who will conduct a weekly training program for the team members in preparation for the national event.

The league championship is slated for May 13. This is the third time that the Commonwealth is sending delegates to the national Mathcourt competition. The first time was in 2010 when the contest was held in Las Vegas.

“We did better in the first year and we got little individual trophies last year so we hope to do that again. We’re aiming for more and higher placing this year,” Miura said, adding that since Mathcourt was established on island, she has seen a vast improvement on the students’ mathematical skills and has received positive feedback from student themselves.

Miura said it is their goal to help sharpen the students’ skills in Math and for those who love the subject, to help them sustain it. The contest is also an avenue for young Mathletes to shine.

Gold winner Han Byol Yun told Saipan Tribune that she’s excited for the group’s upcoming trip and is looking forward to another fun and exciting experience from the competition. This year marks the 12th grader’s third time to the national event.

Throughout the years, she considered Mathcourt as a big challenge.

“The questions they gave us are for higher level and you can actually challenge yourself. I am glad that I became part of this competition because I know it will help me in college,” she told Saipan Tribune.

Silver medal awardee Manatsu Omori, who has been in the national team for the past three years, said he is looking forward to another fun and exciting experience.

Omori said Mathcourt changes his perception about the subject and motivates him to do better in the field. “Last year we did pretty well on the rounds, so I hope to bring some more trophies back here,” he said.

For Jessica Lee, joining Mathcourt events here and abroad is very rewarding.

“It’s very honoring. Math is always been very challenging for me so I always tried my best. This is my last year in the competition and for me it’s very rewarding,” she told Saipan Tribune.

Team members said the opportunity to travel abroad and compete in the Mathcourt nationals bring not only worthwhile experiences to them but a chance to compete with young Mathletes from other states. The national event, they added, also opens their minds to the exciting world of Mathematics, help them improve, and bring them more opportunities for their future.

For the non-regional competition, participants went through three categories (Algebra 1, Algebra 2, and Geometry) and questions were developed using the Public School System benchmarks. Last Saturday, finalists in the regional contest went through four different rounds: sprint, target, relay, and team rounds during the four-hour competition.

Named alternates to the CNMI team to the nationals are SSHS’ Hye Young Oh; MBA’s Jittoon Choi; MBA’s Young Eun Lee; Eucon International School’s Purity Zhang; and Northern Marianas Academy’s Sung Hoon Ham.