The Boothbay Region Seahawk math team capped a stellar season by taking third place in their class at the State of Maine high school math tournament on April 4 at the Augusta Civic Center. When the results of all ten rounds had been tallied, the top 12 division D high schools were:

1. Gould Academy 428 points

2. Carrabec High School 208 points

3. Boothbay Region HS 202 points

4. Richmond High School 166 points

5. Penobscot Valley HS 157 points

6. Easton High School 150 points

7. Hall-Dale High School 146 points

8. Schenck High School 130 points

9. Telstar High School 113 points

10. St. Dominic Academy 104 points

11. Lee Academy 99 points

12. Deer Isle-Stonington HS 92 points

The Maine state meet featured over 800 high school competitors, ten each from most of Maine’s schools. It involves six rounds of individual questions, two relay rounds in a format similar to a relay race, and two team rounds where all ten students from each high school work cooperatively to derive answers to tough questions. Boothbay actually was six points into second place before the final team round but then lost that round to Carrabec to fall into third place.

Individually, the ten students from Boothbay all achieved substantial scores and each one contributed significantly to the team’s total score. The Seahawks’ top individual students at the state meet were senior Ryan Clark with 32 points, sophomore Sawyer Blake with 29 points, senior Rachel Barter with 22 points, freshman Abby Orchard with 21 points, and sophomore Abbie Clark with 17 points. Both Sawyer Blake and Abby Orchard finished among the top 30 students in their respective classes in the state, a considerable feat since there are about 20,000 students statewide in each class.

Other students on the ten-person team included seniors Sydney Blake, Emily Densmore and Gryffin Kristan; and juniors Suzie Edwards and Duncan Hardwick.

Junior Kate Campbell and senior Erik Maki also participated throughout the year at BRHS math team competitions.

If you want to try your hand at a challenging high school math problem (or maybe dust off some cobwebs), try this problem from the meet:

Allen, Ben, and Chris run track. When all three raced, Allen beat Ben by 20 yards and Chris by 47 yards. Then Ben finished 30 yards ahead of Chris. How long is the track in yards?

Yes, this problem can be done and there is a single answer!

Prior to the Maine state meet, the Seahawks grabbed 2nd place at the Mountain Valley tournament at Spruce Mountain High School in Jay, Maine on March 22. Individually, Abby Orchard was the top scoring freshman at the meet, Abbie Clark and Sawyer Black were the 3rd and 4th best scoring sophomores, Susie Edwards and Duncan Hardwick were the 3rd and 5th highest scoring juniors, and Ryan Clark was the 2nd best senior.

Among other accolades achieved this year, the BRHS team:

● Win a trophy for being the 2nd best scoring high school in the small school division of the 21-team Central Maine Math League.

● Win another trophy for achieving the 3rd best score among division D schools throughout the entire season in the state of Maine.

The math season in Maine runs from September through early April and for BRHS involves weekly practices and 7 away meets. Math Team is a voluntary extra-curricular activity and the team members give up their free time and work around athletics and other pursuits to participate.

Practice sessions include 25 different math subjects—some new to the students and some refresher courses. And all practices are capped with a few trivia questions and the legendary math team treats.

Coaches Peter and Nancy Gilchrist wish to express their gratitude for all the effort made by the students and many thanks to the faculty for the excellent preparation our students receive, the school administration for their support, and the families and community for the fine group of young people they have nurtured.