KU announces winners of statewide math competition

LAWRENCE — More than 100 third- through 12th-grade students from schools in Hays, Kansas City, Lawrence, Leawood, Manhattan, Olathe, Overland Park, Topeka and Wichita tackled problem solving and critical thinking at the Mathematics Competition April 6 at the University of Kansas. 

The competition is divided up into three age groups: third and fifth grade, middle school and senior high school. Cash prizes totaling $950 are given to the top three places in each age group. The prizes will be awarded at the Math Competition Award Ceremony at 4:30 p.m. today, April 26, in 306 Snow Hall.

Sponsors are the Department of Mathematics and Information & Telecommunication Technology Center (ITTC). The exams consisted of five questions that took 40 minutes to complete. Jack Porter, professor of mathematics, coordinated the competition.

This competition takes place in conjunction with the mathematics department's Mathematics Awareness Month (MAM) activities. The theme for this year's celebration is Mathematics of Sustainability. Bozenna Pasik-Duncan, professor of mathematics, coordinates the MAM/Outreach activities.

2013 KU Math Competition Winners:

Third - Fifth Grade

First Place: Andrew Duke, O’Loughlin Elementary, Hays, KS

Second Place Tie: Adit Agarwal, Lakewood Elementary, Overland Park, and Shomik Chatterjee, Heartland Elementary, Overland Park

Third Place Tie: Rishit Pathak, Regency Place Elementary, Olathe; Kenny Liou, Heartland Elementary, Overland Park, and Renee Liou, Heartland Elementary, Overland Park

Middle School (sixth-eighth grades)

First Place tie: William Wang, Harmony Middle School, Overland Park; Arvind Subramanian, Frontier Trail Middle School, Olathe; Srivats Narayanan, Lakewood Middle School, Overland Park

Second Place Tie: Janet Stefanov, Southwest Middle School, Lawrence; Benjamin Katz, Southwest Middle School, Lawrence; Nikhil Kuppuswamy, Barstow Middle School, Overland Park

Third Place Tie: Lucy Li, Overland Trail Middle School, Overland Park; Rohit Ramachandran, Overland Trail Middle School, Overland Park

Senior High 

First Place: Shyam Narayanan, Blue Valley West High School, Overland Park

Third Place Tie: Gavin Zhu, Blue Valley West High School, Overland Park; Yifeng Ding, Blue Valley North High School, Overland Park; William Liu, Blue Valley High School, Overland Park.