Canyon Crest Academy places second in national math contest
San Diego’s Canyon Crest Academy has some of the best high-school mathematicians in the country, as demonstrated by their second-place finish in the 2010 Fall Startup Event, a national mathematics contest administered by
Coach Brian Shay prepared students for the first major competition of the academic year, in which students worked furiously for 30 minutes, racing to answer 100 problems in a variety of mathematical topics. With so many questions and so little time, competitors must not only have strong mathematical skills, but also be able to quickly decide which problems to solve and which to skip.
After results from students across the nation were processed, several Canyon Crest Academy students received individual awards, helping their team to place second in the nation. In the 9th-grade division, Paolo Gentili and Brandon Zeng tied for 2nd place, Catherine Wu was 9th, Eric Chen placed 11th, and Oliver Ren finished in 13th-place. Thomas Swayze placed 8th in the 10th-grade division, Henry Maltby was 7th in the 11th-grade division, and Marco Gentili placed 3rd in the 12th-grade division.
Canyon Crest Academy will be participating in all five of National Assessment & Testing’s contests this year, including the 2010 Team Scramble on Nov. 4 and the 2010 Ciphering Time Trials on Dec. 9.
National Assessment & Testing administers high-quality mathematics competitions that high schools can participate in through the mail. Their contests cover a variety of formats, including individual and team tests, as well as a variety of difficulties, from 100 easy problems in 30 minutes to 15 complex problems in one week.