Mickelson Middle School students showcase their math skills

Chapter competition

On Feb. 19, a group of 12 Mickelson Middle School students traveled to Southeast Technical Institute in Sioux Falls to compete at the Chapter MathCounts Competition, where they competed against other middle school students in the region.

MathCounts is a nationwide math club and competition program that encourages middle school students to utilize critical thinking and problem-solving skills by doing challenging math problems.

All students completed several written rounds of competition individually as well as a group round in teams of four.

Individually, Timothy Jin proved to be the top mathlete of the competition, taking first place. Other MMS students in the top 10 included Adrian Butzin, fourth, and Shinji Numata, fifth. The top 10 finishers of the competition competed in a buzz-in Countdown Round where Timothy Jin also secured first place. The official team for MMS, consisting of Shinji, Timothy, Matthew Michna, and Taponidhi Cherukuri, placed second, which qualified all four for the State Competition. Adrian Butzin also qualified for the State Competition as an individual.

State competition

The South Dakota State MathCountsCompetition took place in Pierre on March 21, where 40 students from across the state competed for a chance to advance to the National Competition.

After several rounds of competition and a lot of critical thinking, Mickelson Middle School’s Shinji Numata came out on top for the individual competition. Also finishing in the top eight were Timothy Jin, third place, Matthew Michna, seventh place, and Adrian Butzin, eighth place.

The top eight competitors went head-to-head in the Countdown Round, where Shinji also pulled out a first-place victory. The MMS team, consisting of Shinji, Timothy, Matthew, and Taponidhi Cherukuri, also ended up first in the team round competition.

The top four students in each state earn an all-expenses paid trip to compete at the National MathCounts Competition, which will be May 10-11 in Orlando, Florida. MMS’s Shinji and Timothy qualified for Nationals, and coach Shannon Renkly will be the coach representing team South Dakota at the National Competition as well.