Top 10 advancing to territorial competition Country Day wins St. Croix Mathcounts competition

ST. CROIX - After the numbers settled, St. Croix Country Day School emerged the victor in the 2012 St. Croix District Mathcounts competition Thursday held at the Good Hope School's gym.

The school's four-member team bested nine other schools in the annual competition - with Elena Christian Junior High placing second and Church of God (Holiness) Academy placing third.

More than 100 mathletes in grades six through eight gathered around folding tables spaced throughout the gym, each sitting quietly with a pencil in one hand and a calculator - when the rules permitted - somewhere near the other.

After four rounds deciphering equations, the Country Day team shot to their feet and cheered as they were called to the front to accept their trophies.

Country Day eighth-grader Julian Di Persio said the team's hard work during the school year showed Thursday.

"We worked a lot this year, and so it definitely paid off," said Julian, who had the highest individual score. "You just have to sit down with a bunch of those packets and work them out."

St. Croix District Mathematics Coordinator Juanita Boneque said the turnout this year was consistent with previous years, though she was happy that two public elementary schools - Eulalie Rivera Elementary and Ricardo Richards Elementary - decided to participate with sixth-graders in a competition that is dominated by eighth-graders.

"It's increasing more and more," Boneque said. "I see the enthusiasm in them, and I see it in the coaches getting them excited."

The students spent the morning voluntarily taking hard and long math tests, for which some students had spent months preparing. The first test was a Sprint Round consisting of 30 problems in 40 minutes.

The Target Round consisted of eight multi-step problems in 30 minutes.

At times, the tests were frustrating and maddening, as some students silently screamed and shook their fists at the rafters. Even after time was called, many still were going over in their heads that one problem they almost had figured out.

The team round allows collaboration between teammates to complete 10 problems in 20 minutes, while the Countdown Round finishes off the otherwise quiet competition with a head-to-head verbal competition involving Jeopardy-style buzzers.

For Ethan Dean, the Country Day eighth-grader who took first place in the Countdown competition, all the hard work was worth the effort.

"It feels very good. I didn't expect to win that," he said. "I'm going to try very hard to get to nationals."

Ethan edged out his classmate Sierra Van Allen in the final round to win the title, but Elena Christian's Donte Harris, Good Hope's Taahira Guzman and Manor School's Hannah Elser also vied for the title.

Country Day began training as soon as school started, spending 50 minutes every other day working out problems, according to Country Day coach Rachel Newman. Country Day students also accounted for five of the top eight students included in the Countdown Round.

"I am very proud of them," Newman said. "They've been working really hard, and my five kids that are continuing on know what to focus on as individuals."

Along with the Country Day team - consisting of Ethan, Julian, Sierra and Kalahari Bryan - six other students will move on to the territorial competition on March 29 to compete against their St. Thomas-St. John District counterparts.

Moderator Basil Williams, the principal of St. Mary's Catholic School, encouraged students to continue their pursuit of math as the competition came to a close.

"Continue to hone your math skills and continue to pursue math because it opens doors," he said.

- Contact Daniel Shea at 714-9127 or email dshea@dailynews.vi.Individual top score: Julian Di Persio, Country Day School.

Individual countdown: Ethan Dea, Country Day School.

Winning team: Country Day School.

Winning team members: Julian Di Persio, Ethan Dean, Sierra Van Allen and Kalahari Bryan.

Winning team coach: Rachel Newman.

Additional competitors: Taahira Guzman, Good Hope; Hannah Elser, Manor School; Hazel Acosta, Country Day; Andrew Peacock, Country Day; Donte Harris, Elena Christian; Ameera Mustafa, Elena Christian.

Sample questions

1. A four-digit perfect square integer is created by placing two positive two-digit perfect square integers next to each other. What is the four-digit square integer?

2. When Bob exercises, he does jumping jacks for 5 minutes and then walks the track at 4 minutes per lap. If he exercised for 73 minutes on Monday, how many laps did he walk?

3. What number is 17 less than its negative? Express your answer as a decimal to the nearest tenth.

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