MA Students Win First Place in 2013 National MATHCOUNTS Competition
From left: John Hayden, MSPE State Coordinator for MATHCOUNTS,, Team members Alec Sun, Matt Lipman, Michael Ren, James Lin, and Coach Josh Frost.
MSPE is a major Massachusetts sponsor of MATHCOUNTS, a national math enrichment program and competition for students in grades 6-8. At the 2013 national competition, held in Washington, DC on May 10, MA students placed first in the nation for the second consecutive year.
Massachusetts students successfully defended their Championship title by beating 55 teams from across the nation.Individually, out of 224 competitors, Matthew Lipman placed 33rd and Michael Ren placed 27th. Both James Lin and Alec Sun made it into the Countdown Round, in which the top 12 competitors compete directly to determine the National Champion. For Alec Sun an 8th grader, this was his third time in the Countdown Round – a first in the 30-year history of the competition. James Lin placed as quarter finalist in the Countdown Round. Alec Sun, made it all the way to the final round and won the National Individual Championship.