Nine students from West High departed for Minnesota, Tuesday, for the Minnesota State Math competition. And they returned with their backpacks full of awards.

West high School won the team award with 113 points, a team of 5 students, defeating local schools like Mankato East and West.

Daniel Stewart ‘19, scoring a 24 out of thirty on the individual round, won the freshman division and got second place overall, winning $105 in Amazon Gift Cards, a new TI-84 color calculator, and a $500 dollar scholarship to Minnesota State University.

Stewart was confident he did well on the exam, even before the results were in. “I answered all of them except for two,” said Stewart. “I felt like I probably did pretty well, but… I thought it was likely that I didn’t do well due to silly mistakes.”

Kai Trepka ‘16 took home the third place prize with another score of 24 – tying for victory in the senior division, and acquiring another TI-84 calculator and $35 in Amazon Gift Cards. He credits the success of the team to top-notch talent and kick-a coaching. “Our success can be attributed to a combination of brilliant students and hardworking coaches that drive us hours to get to these kinds of competitions,” said Trepka.

Pranav Krishnamurthy ‘18 also won the sophomore division with a score of 20.

Casey McClenathan, ‘17 was one scoring member on the official West High team. She found the problems to be strange. “The math was a lot different than most and maybe not as exciting,” said McClenathan.

However, for her this was a good thing. “The kinds of questions on this test challenged thinking in different areas, that are less often exercised,” McClenathan said.

And at the end of the day, everyone got a free T-shirt.