The Caltech Math Meet (CMM) is a prestigious annual high school math competition attracting nationwide participants. After recently placing in the top 10, UHS aims to achieve similar success again this year. The competition took place in person at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) on Jan. 25 and was organized by current Caltech students, many of whom previously competed in the event while in high school.
UHS was allocated only one team to participate in CMM through a lottery system, so the UHS Math Club held a two-hour selection test to determine which students would be on the team. The selection test covered a range of mathematical topics. Based on the results, the top six performers selected were seniors Victoria Fang and Minerva You, juniors Feodor Yevtushenko, and sophomores Michael Jian, Virat Varada and Timothy Chen. After the team was revealed, many expressed their excitement towards getting the opportunity to compete on behalf of their school.
“I’m looking forward to representing Uni at CMM and traveling with the team,” Varada said. “I’m also excited to participate in the Integration Bee, which I know is very fun from past experience, as I like when seemingly difficult problems end up having clean solutions.”
Although it does not contribute to the overall team score, the Integration Bee is one of the most popular events at many high school math contests. Structured as a single-elimination bracket, each round consists of head-to-head matchups in which students compete on stage to see who can solve the given integral first. At CMM, the three most critical rounds, the Power, Team and Individual Round, determine the final rankings.
“A huge driving factor for me to take part in these contests is the level of questions that we encounter,” You said. “They are often completely different from those seen in school and require a deeper level of mathematical understanding to solve.”
While all six team members have years of competition experience, they are working to balance the diverse skills required for each round. Some team members plan to focus on quicker problem-solving, while others emphasize more precise proof-writing. In the weeks leading up to the competition, the CMM team has adopted a mindset focused on studying rather than stressing over placement.
“I am [not] striving for a specific result, but rather with the intention to have fun with the rest of the team and learn something new,” Chen said. “These types of contests drive my love for math as I am able to experience an interesting and fascinating part of mathematics.”
Ultimately, the team placed 4th overall, the highest UHS has placed in the competition’s history since 2018, and Yevtushenko placed 6th individually.