Alex math teams do well at tri-college event

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The Tri-College Mathematics Contest was held at Moorhead State University on March 17.

Forty-two students in grades 7-12 from Discovery Middle School and Jefferson High School in Alexandria attended that event.

The contest is divided into three divisions: Middle School (grades 6-8), Beginning High School (grades 9-10) and Senior High School (grades 11-12). In each division, teams of eight students compete to achieve the highest individual and team scores.

Alexandria came home with hardware in both the beginning and senior high divisions.

In the middle school division, the team of Ben Tollefson, Marissa Wheeler, Chelsey Salto, Ally Timm, Mitch Maday, Tyler Kay, Chase Childers and Gabe Klepper took 5th place with a score of 222. The team finished behind West Fargo, Fargo, Discovery Fargo, Bismarck and Grand Forks.

Individually, Alexandria had two students in the top 10: Marissa Wheeler took 7th place with a score of 31 and Carl Branch took 10th with a score of 30.

In the beginning high school division, the team of John Turner, Leah Stinson, Will Sieling, Austin McCulloch, Taylor Score, Ted Deitz, Christine Johnson and Kalli Bowser took 1st place with a score of 229. They were followed by teams from Red River Falls, Grand Forks Central, Detroit Lakes and Moorhead with scores of 216, 215, 210 and 146 respectively.

Individually, Alexandria had four students in the top 10. Leah Stinson took 2nd with a score of 31 (out of a possible 36); Taylor Score took 3rd with a score of 30, Will Sieling took 6th with 27 points and Jordan Arel took 8th with 24 points.

In the senior high division, the team of Kyle Fulghum, Jill Rook, Paul Yager, Drake Johnson, Cody Saurdiff, Peter Brackin, Jen DeCock and Katie Lovrien took 5th place with a score of 214.

The team came in 5th behind Bismarck Century, Grand Forks Central, Red River Falls and West Fargo. Individually, Alexandria had one student in the top 10: Cody Saurdiff came in 6th with a score of 23.

Team scores are calculated by combining the scores of eight pre-selected individuals on individual exams and points earned during a team exam. During the individual test, students have 60 minutes to complete 35-40 rigorous problems without a calculator. During the team test, the eight members have 20 minutes to complete 10 questions with the use of a calculator.

Tags: math teams, life, school, dms, jhs, students