This team from Mickelson Middle School represented Brookings at the MathCounts State Competion in Pierre. Members are left to right, Coach Jason Stangeland, Ivan Li, Kevin Wu, Sarah He and Alex Kimn. Kimn and Li will represent Team South Dakota at the national MATHCOUNTS competition May 6-8 in Tampa, Fla.

A student from Mickelson Middle School is repeating as this year's state MathCounts champion and will be joined by another Mickelson student at the national contest in May.

Alex Kimn placed first in the individual contest portion of the competition at the MathCounts State Competition in Pierre. His victory enables him to keep his title as state champion.

Last weekend, a team of four Mickelson Middle School students placed first at the contest . Team members include eighth-grader Sarah He, seventh-graders Kimn and Ivan Li and sixth-grader Kevin Wu.

The team was asked a set of 10 questions and had 20 minutes to complete the problems, which were comprised of general eighth-grade math, factoring , linear equations and Pythagorean theorem. Coach Jason Stangeland said his students answered six of the questions correctly.

In the individual contest, He also tied for eighth place, while Li finished second. The questions in the individual contest were the same types asked in the team competition, only the individual contest was broken into two parts. In one part of the test, contestants could use a calculator; in the other one, they could not. South Dakota rep

Kimn and Li will represent Team South Dakota at the 2010 Raytheon MathCounts National Competition at Walt Disney World's Swan and Dolphin Resort in Orlando, Fla., May 6-8 . The two will complete the team with other state winners Jared Geffre (Aberdeen Roncalli Jr. High) and Sean Calhoun (Patrick Henry Middle School, Sioux Falls).

Eighth-grader Andrew Hildebrant actually was a part of the original Mickelson Middle School team, but could not attend because of All-State Band. Kevin Wu was the alternate who stepped up in Hildebrant's absence.

MathCounts is a national club and competition program that promotes middle school mathematics achievement through grassroots involvement in every U.S. state and territory.

According to their Web site, www.mathcounts.org, the national program has been around for 27 years. Their goal is to "inspire excellence, confidence and curiosity in U.S. middle school students through fun and challenging math programs."

They hope to provide today's students with the foundation for success in science, technology, engineering and mathematics careers.

Contact Vicki Schuster at vschuster @brookingsregister.com.