The Mickelson Middle School MathCounts team had a successful season again as they competed in the various levels of competition throughout the school year. MathCounts is a national program for students in grades 6-8 that engages students in problem solving in ways that are both fun and challenging.

A group of about 25 middle schoolers at MMS began preparing for the season in October. The competition series started in December, where students participated in a school-level competition consisting of several written rounds of tests. The top 12 scorers advanced to the Chapter Competition, which took place in Sioux Falls on Feb. 22.

The MMS students competing at the competition were Rayaan Ahmad, Charlie Butzin, Gavin Cose, Eli Ellsworth, Madeline Enderson, Louis Liu, Catie Michna, Shinji Numata, Jagat Perumal, Grant Tellekson, Sanhita Tummala and Kerrick Zhang. The team of four (consisting of Catie Michna, Kerrick Zhang, Jagat Perumal and Grant Tellekson), placed second, advancing them to the State Competition on March 9 in Pierre. Individually, two students placed in the top 10: Kerrick Zhang, first, and Grant Tellekson, seventh. Both boys qualified to compete in the fast-paced, buzz-in, Countdown Round where Grant finished in fourth place and Kerrick took the top prize, first overall.

At the state competition, the four qualifying MMS students competed against 40 of the top students in the state. The team, again consisting of Catie, Jagat, Grant and Kerrick, pulled out a first place victory.

Individually, Kerrick placed third, Catie 10th, Grant 11th, and Jagat 34th. Kerrick’s third-place rank qualified him for an all-expenses paid trip to Washington, D.C., on May 11-14 for the national competition. Their coach, Shannon Renkly, also qualified to be the official team coach for South Dakota at the National Competition. Rounding out the four team members for Team South Dakota at the National Competition are Levi Edwards of Holgate Middle School in Aberdeen, Maxwell Wang of Patrick Henry Middle School in Sioux Falls and Cohwen Heimann of Holgate Middle School in Aberdeen.