Owls Shine in National Math Competition

Eleven math scholars traveled to the National Mu Alpha Theta Convention in Las Vegas where they competed with teams from across the country, finishing fourth in the Interschool Competition.
Thirty schools sent 511 students to the event. Competition was fierce and problems difficult, but Math Department Co-chair Darin Clifft and Math Instructor Nancy Gates had prepared the students for the convention.

During the Opening Night Mixer, Wills Frazer ’25 and his team won a puzzle contest, earning him a $15 Starbucks gift card. Dannie Dong ’24 and Bryan Ding ’24 won $10 Chick-Fil-A gift cards after their team finished second in the same competition.

The students heard an inspiring talk from Richard Rusczyk, the founder and CEO of Art of Problem Solving, Inc. and a co-author of Art of Problem Solving textbooks (used in some accelerated MUS math classes).

Abdullah Khawaja ’27 kicked off the real competitions with a 12th place finish in Theta Applications. In the Chalk Talks, speeches on specific topics, Frazer placed sixth in the Mu Division; Ethan Zhao ’26, seventh in the Alpha Division; and Henry Phan ’26, ninth in the Theta Division. Parth Patel ’24, Phan, and Zhao took 10th place in the Relay while Albert Ding ’26, Dong, Khawaja, and Lucas Zhang ’26 finished 10th in the Hustle competition.

The Interschool contest consisted of five puzzles written by the Art of Problem Solving team. “This was a tough and odd competition with several coaches complaining about the form and difficulty of the problem sets,” Clifft said. “We were ecstatic to finish in fourth place for this one. It was our best showing by far in the entire competition.”

Competing for math awards wasn’t the only activity for the Owls. The group made a trip to the Sphere for an Imax-like show. They also took in the sights, shopped, and ate out, including at In-N-Out and Teriyaki Madness. The heat reached a record 120 degrees, and Clifft found himself traveling to CVS for cases of water three times throughout the weeklong trip. 

They have hard proof of their accolades – four students had to check bags because they contained trophies. The victories and other memories – the late-night pizza, practicing problems with Gates, and checking out the local mall and restaurant scene – will last forever.
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