On Wednesday, Feb. 1, the New Trier math team recieved first at their site for a competition involving 55 schools overall.

New Trier hosted Ida Crown, Loyola, Evanston, and Niles North on their site, though other schools were dispersed among many different locations.  All 55 teams in the league competed on the same night.  The teams were ranked and given awards based on how they did at their specific site, as well as how they did compared to all of the schools competing.

Within their site, the New Trier Math team received first place.  Junior Yamenah Ambreen said “I was definitely proud of how we did and we’re only going to get better for our next competitions.”

Ambreen was the representative from New Trier who competed in Orals, one of the three portions of the competition.  In this competition, one participant receives questions and then must present their solutions to two judges.

There are two other parts of the competition. The first is the written competition. It is given in a quiet test taking environment. The other portion is called the Candy Bar Contest, where the entire team receives 20 questions and 20 minutes to solve all of the problems.

New Trier also came in first in the Candy Bar Contest.  Senior Carlyn Chrabaszcz said, “we got first place and won the side competition called the Candy Bar Challenge, so I was very proud.”

Chrabaszcz, a member of the math team since freshman year, said it was positive part of her high school career.  “What makes it so fun for me is the people on the team. A lot of bonding happens on the long bus rides and overnight trips for competitions.”

Ambreen was also positively impacted.  “It’s a great experience because I get to practice something I love on a weekly basis with kids who have similar interests as me.”

Katherine Linsenmeir and Jon Lepeska have both been coaching since they became teachers at New Trier.  They became head coaches in 2010.  The team has had a lot of success and placed 8th out of 55 schools last year. This year, the team took 9th place overall.

Evanston was New Trier’s biggest competitor at the competition. The coaches were aware of this going into the meet, and their prediction was spot on.  Evanston came in second, only three points behind New Trier.

Although Linsenmeir was behind the scenes in the grading room for the majority of the competition, she was present for the excitement during the awards ceremony.  “Students definitely cheered for each other,” she said.

Looking back at the experiences of the students on the math team, Chrabaszcz may not have expected such a supportive group, but that is what she got. She stated, “My freshman year math teacher, Mr. Hsieh, offered us extra credit to go to the first meeting, but I liked it so much that I kept coming back.”