Mu Alpha Theta Mathletes Three-peat

Eighteen Owls traveled to Dobyns-Bennett High School in Kingsport for the Mu Alpha Theta State Convention and came away the Overall Sweepstakes and Interschool Competition winners for the third straight year.
The first math problem encountered by instructors Darin Clifft and Aaron Clifft ’13 was, “How do we get 479 miles across the state in 10 hours while stopping for gas, lunch, and a coordinated rendezvous in Nashville with the state DECA convention attendees to pick up six students?” To solve it, the Cliffts leaned on a tried-and-true principle.
 
“As the Boy Scouts taught me, always be prepared,” Mr. Darin Clifft said.
 
Prepared they were, indeed, as they racked up 12 first-place trophies across the competition. They also tallied six second-place and seven third-place finishes.
 
In the weeks leading up to the competition, math instructors Mrs. Nancy Gates, Dr. Steve Gadbois, and Mr. Darin Clifft were instrumental in preparing the boys with extra practice sessions.
 
On the food front, the trip included stops at Buc-ee’s (where the team posed with Buc-ee Beaver), Opry Mills mall food court, and Raising Cane’s, in addition to many DoorDash deliveries to the team hotel.
 
After 15 travel hours, 1,001 travel miles, two lost phones, and countless SAT verbal game questions, the Owls returned home champions with eyes on next year’s prize.
 
Owl results:
 
Overall Sweepstakes Winner
1st Place Interschool Competition
1st Place Pickleball Competition (creating a device to slow a pickleball dropped from two stories)
1st Place Ciphering (Calculus division): Michael Liu ’25
1st Place Mental Math (Precalculus division): Carson Alexander ’27
1st Place Ciphering (Precalculus division): Carson Alexander ’27 and Abdullah Khawaja ’27 (tie)
1st Place Speed Math (Precalculus division): Abdullah Khawaja ’27
1st Place Chalk Talk (Precalculus division): Henry Phan ’26 (his second win in consecutive years.)
1st Place Individual Test (Precalculus division): Henry Phan ’26
1st Place Individual Test (Algebra II division): Advay Adapa ’27
1st Place Mental Math (Algebra II division): Advay Adapa ’27
1st Place Speed Math (Algebra II division): Joseph Zhao ’28
2nd Place Speed Math (Calculus division): Michael Liu ’25
2nd Place Individual Test (Precalculus division): Carson Alexander ’27
2nd Place Speed Math (Precalculus division): Carson Alexander ’27
2nd Place Mental Math (Precalculus division): Abdullah Khawaja ’27
2nd Place Ciphering (Algebra II division): Advay Adapa ’27 and Joseph Zhao ’28 (tie)
2nd Place Mental Math (Algebra II division): Joseph Zhao ’28
3rd Place Speed Math (Calculus division): Albert Ding ’26
3rd Place Mental Math (Calculus division): Ethan Zhao ’26
3rd Place Ciphering (Calculus division): Ethan Zhao ’26
3rd Place Ciphering (Precalculus division): Joshua Dong ’27
3rd Place Individual Test (Precalculus division): Abdullah Khawaja ’27
3rd Place Mental Math (Precalculus division): Henry Phan ’26
3rd Place Speed Math (Precalculus division): Henry Phan ’26
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