Speyer's Math Team Dominates MATHCOUNTS Manhattan! Next Stop: States!

It’s official: other schools tremble when the Dragons are in the house! Case in point: the recent victories at MATHCOUNTS Manhattan on Saturday February 2! Speyer's Middle School math team took THIRD place out of 43 teams, finishing FIRST among all independent schools. As a top-five team, Speyer qualified for the state MATHCOUNTS championship in March! But the awards didn’t stop there! 

It was a day of riveting math fun! To clinch the third place spot, Speyer's ranking was determined by a team of four students: eighth graders Thomas B (captain) and Maya D-R, seventh grader Jake R., and sixth grader Rohan S. Five other Speyer students competed as individuals: eighth graders Eugene Y. (first alternate to the team of four), Wilby O., Michael K., and seventh graders Binah F. and Charlie H.

Our squad also earned a number of individual honors. All nine of Speyer’s Mathletes finished in the top quarter of the field of 308, and five of them (Thomas, Maya, Charlie, Jake, and Rohan) made the top 25! 

Jake placed 7th in the city, and Rohan (despite battling flu symptoms!) finished 3rd, which qualified the duo to compete in the prestigious Countdown Round, the ceremonial tournament of top 16 finishers that occurs at the end of the contest. Round after round, in front of hundreds of spectators, Jake and Rohan went against the top mathletes in the city.  The thrilling tourment was amazing, with Speyer’s coaches and parents routing them on. To add to the drama, Rohan's bout with the flu had robbed him of his voice, so that he had to lean toward the judge and mouth his answers! Yes, mere physical complications could not thwart Rohan, as he was the final Mathlete standing, becoming Manhattan's 2019 Countdown champion! 

High-fives to all of our Mathletes and a huge shout-out to coaches Mr. Jameson and Mr. Chung, and Speyer parent Ruvim Breydo!