Previous Story
Agape’s Guintu tops middle school Mathcourt contest
CNMI Mathcourt held its Middle School Statewide competition at the Saipan International School last Saturday morning. Three Agape Christian School students finished in the top five, with other top finishers from Marianas Baptist School and Grace Christian Academy.
Gold went to Frederic Dean Michael Guintu, a sixth grader from Agape. Silver went to Su Hwan Bae, an eight grader from MBA. Bronze went to Lucy Gu, a seventh grader from Agape school.
Fourth place went to Annie Wang, from Agape as well, and fifth place went to Min Hyeok Ha, an eight grader from GCA.
Agape’s trainer, Frederick Guintu, who also happened to be father of the top finisher, said they trained after classes everyday. “We didn’t do anything except practice, just to prepare for this. Luckily, in God’s will, we are victorious.”
His son, “Mac” Guintu, said he “studied a lot” for the competition. “The target round was easy but the rest was hard,” he said on the day’s competition.
Agape also finished first in the “team round” of the competition, beating 12 other school teams.
MBA’s Bae said he practiced “almost every day” for the competition. He said it felt “great” to make it to the top five.
Reo Arriola, a Mathcourt administrator, said all top three finishers have an “equal chance of making it to Team CNMI,” the high school team that competes in the nationwide competition, depending if they meet the Mathleague criteria.
He said last Saturday’s competition went “very smooth.” He said Saipan Southern High School and Marianas High School assisted with scoring for the competition, while other schools provided volunteer proctors.
“We got done by 11:30am,” he said, adding that this was “quick.” The competition was slated to begin at 9am.
He said Mathcourt is very grateful to SIS for “stepping up” and offering their school as a venue after another school backed out at the last minute.
On Jan. 31, the fourth and fifth grade regional and the high school state competition will take place, probably at Saipan Southern High School, according to Arriola.
The high school state competition is where the members of “Team CNMI” will be determined, he said.
