2008 Orange County MATHCOUNTS Held at UCI

2008 Orange County MATHCOUNTS was held on February 16, 2008 at UCI.  Over 150 students from 17 schools participated in this full-day events.  We would like to congratulate Avid Academy student Ryo Sasaki the winner of the 2008 Orange County MATHCOUNTS.  For fourth consecutive year, a student coached by Dr. Li has become the top winner of the Orange County MATHCOUNTS.

The events consist of four rounds.  The Sprint round is a 30-questions, 40-minute, no calcaculator contest and the Target round is a 8-question, 6-minute per pair of questions with calculator.  The individual winners are determined by awarding one point for each correct Sprint round questions and two points for each correct Target round questions.  The top 16 students advance to the Countdown round:

1. Ryo Sasaki - Rancho San Joaquin Middle School
2. Stephen Yoo - Fairmont Private School
3. Dilion Zhi - South Lake Middle School
4. Dai Yang - Rancho San Joaquin Middle School
5. Jiang Lan - Niguel Hills Middle School
6. Brian Wagner - Harbor Day School
7. Steven Chen - Sierra Vista Middle School
8. George Clemmons - Saint Margaret's Episcopal School
9. Sean Kanne - Hillsborough School
10. Timothy Zhou - Sierra Vista Middle School
11. Alex Lin - Rancho San Joaquin Middle School
12. Daniel Suh - Kraemer Middle School
13. Simon Wu - Rancho San Joaquin Middle School
14. Lynn Moon - Rancho San Joaquin Middle School
15. Alex Zivkovic - Vista Verde Middle School
16. James Lu - Rancho San Joaquin Middle School

In the coundown round, the top 16 students are seated in a tournament style to compete one-on-one in a single elimation match.  Simon Wu of Rancho San Joaquin won the countdown round.

In the team round competition, a team of four students work as a team to solve 10 questions in 20 minutes.  The top four teams are:

1. Rancho San Joanquin Middle School (Anthony Chen, Ryo Sasaki, Simon Wu, Dai Yang)
2. South Lake Middle School (Den Domash, Kamin Kahrizi, Bryan Kim, Dillon Zhi)
3. Avid Academy (Alex Zivkovic, Derrick Xin, Tyler Vollmer, Seong Jin Park)
4. Sierra Vista Middle School (Steven Chen, Timothy Zhou, Joon-Bujhm Huh, Nikki Koe)

The top two teams and three individuals not on an advancing team will compete at the California State MATHCOUNTS to be held on March 15, 2008 at UCI.

A total of 23 students from Avid Academy or coached by Dr. Li participated in the competitions.  Six of them finished in the top 16: Ryo Sasaki, Dai Yang, Brian Wagner, George Clemmons, Sean Kanne, and Alex Zivkovic. 

The following Avid students advanced to the State MATHCOUNTS:

• Ryo Sasaki (Rancho San Juan Joaquin, Team)
• Dai Yang (Rancho San Juan Joaquin, Team)
• Brian Kim (South Lake Middle School, Team)
• Brian Wagner (Harbor Day, Individual)