New Canaan math team gears up for potential state run
NEW CANAAN — Fresh from a third-place finish at its penultimate county match, the New Canaan High School Math Team is gearing up for a probable appearance in this year’s Connecticut State Association of Math Leagues tournament.
The high school mathematicians, who compete in the Fairfield County Math League, sit behind perennial powerhouse Greenwich High School in terms of season rankings. New Canaan holds 457 points on the season, inching closer to Greenwich, which has amassed 482 points on the year.
“We usually sit somewhere around the top five teams in the county every year,” said Jennifer Lee, math teacher and secondyear faculty advisor to the team. “I’m especially proud of the team’s accomplishments since we held fewer practices than usual leading up to (our last match).”
This past Wednesday, New Canaan participated in its fifth county match of the season. It’s total of 92 points was good enough for third out of more than 30 teams and was just barely edged by Greenwich’s 93 and a few points off from Brunswick School’s 97.
“I think the team would attribute their strong finish in (the last match) to a perfect 18 on the team round, which is a round we have been hoping to improve,” said Lee.
Individually, New Canaan’s mathletes are no slouches either. Senior George Radoslavov currently leads the county with 87 scored points on the season, averaging just under 17.5 per match. Luke Huang heads into the last match of the season as the second-highest scoring freshman, having totaled 81 points.
Lee said that, at the beginning of the academic year, the members of the Math Team were not certain whether the season would be canceled altogether. After a pivot to virtual matches by the county, the team has been able to field an even larger roster than normal this season, having six members on its “A” team and 12 on its “B” team. The team has had to shift its practices online, though, as Lee pointed out, which is atypical for the usually “loud” and boisterous group practice room after school.
“I’m especially proud of the team’s accomplishments since we held fewer practices than usual leading up to Match 5,” Lee said. “Thanks to the efforts of seniors Nick Styles, George Radoslavov and Yikuan Zhou, we are starting to come together more as a team, and that ‘team feeling’ has been challenging to achieve during virtual practices and matches.”
She added that the entire team is excited for a likely advancement to the state match.
The CSAML match, which is held in April, pits some of the state’s brightest young minds against each other in a showdown for mathematic excellence. In order to qualify, New Canaan has to hold its ranking within the top three in the county, according to Lee.
The school currently sits at second with 457 points, tailed closely by the Brunswick School at 451. Barring a monumental upset, New Canaan should be able to remain within the top three teams in the county, as Greenwich Academy and King School in Stamford are currently tied for fourth with 386 points.
“I think they are all grateful to have the opportunity to participate, even though we can’t be together right now,” Lee said before reflecting on her affinity for working with the students this season. “Personally, I wouldn’t have been so involved this early on in my coaching if we didn’t go remote, and I do really enjoy working with them.”