On Dec. 16, the University High School Mathematics Club participated in the Division I Math Madness competition. To get there, the UHS Team had to win several rounds starting Nov. 9, eventually making it to the Bracket Championship where they defeated the 10th nationally ranked school, the Fulton Science Academy, in the finals of the online competition. 

The contest is hosted by the Mathematics Association of America (MAA) and happens every fall and spring of the academic year. The participants compete in weekly competition leagues followed by a nationwide, single-elimination bracket tournament.

In the 2020-2021 season, approximately 1,000 teams and 20,000 students from across the country competed in one of the Math Madness events.

UHS is currently ranked 25 out of 100 teams nationally for the competition. The team consists of 30 players and their coach, Mrs. Stephanie Chang. 

Before reaching the finals, UHS had to defeat several teams, including Troy High School from Troy, Michigan, which is ranked third nationally. 

The UHS team has many nationally ranked members, including junior Benjamin Fan, ranked 41st nationally with a 92.9% accuracy rate, and sophomore Sanghyuk Im, ranked 97th nationally with an accuracy rate of 87.5%. 

The team ranks 12th nationally for teams with top 10 players, 13th nationally ranked for teams with top 15 players, and 16th nationally ranked for teams with top 20 players. 

Im notes that the championship match over winter break was a competitive one. 

“A few weeks ago, the UHS Math Team won the highest division of a team-based competition event called Math Madness. The tournament started off with 64 high schools from across the nation, with the UHS Math Team as the last one standing,” Im said. 

Each match followed the same format where the two schools had to answer a series of math questions. 

“Every round, there are 8 problems, each with open-ended numerical answers. Participants are given 30 minutes to solve those questions and the students with the top 5 scores contribute to the overall ‘team score,’” Im said.

Participants typically take around one to three minutes to complete each question, with 1.33 seconds for the fastest time at a 100% accuracy. Though some participants are able to complete the questions quickly, the accuracy rate contributes the most to their ranking. 

Starting this spring of 2022, AMC/AreteLabs will be re-running their Fall 2021 Math Madness event as the Spring 2022 Math Madness Rerun from Feb. 13 through Apr. 30. Additionally, they will host their informal Mini-Madness event, which is Math Madness without the bracket tournament, from Feb. 13 through Mar. 19.

Students can visit the AreteLabs website for further information on Math Madness and current rankings for schools across the country participating in the competition.