On May 16 the West High Math Club competed at the mathleague National Math Championship in St. Louis, Missouri. The group competed in both team competitions and individual events, winning awards in both and securing the sweepstakes award for the entire team. The West High club scored 285 points, 19 points more than the second-place winner. 

Catherine Xu ’26, Aiden Zhang ’27 and Awen Li ’29 placed first in the relay round. Shannon Chen ’27, Maximilian Hing ’30, Konnon Chen ’28, Kevin Wang ’29 and Mason Zhang ’31 placed third in the team test. Li, Xu, Shannon Chen, Aiden Zhang, Hing and Lucius Coriglione ’30 also placed third in the power question. Xu and Aiden Zhang placed first and sixth in the individual competition, respectively. Xu was also recognized with a second-place award for Overall Top Individual Finishers.

Aiden Zhang cites a more casual atmosphere for the mathleague competition in comparison to other math competitions that the West High math club participates in. 

“I don’t think anyone prepares for [mathleague] — it’s just for fun,” Aiden Zhang said. “West got first at nationals because we prepare for other competitions like the AMC [American Mathematics Competition] and the AIME [American Invitational Mathematics Examination] every year.”

Aiden Zhang began competing in math competition in eight grade and encourages new students to try out competing in the future.

“Give it a try,” Aiden Zhang said. “Maybe you’ll like it.”