Brian Wagner won Orange County MATHCOUNTS

The 2009 MATHCOUNTS Orange County Chapter competition was held on Saturday, February 21, 2009 at UC Irvine.  Avid student Brian Wagner, a 7th grader from Harbor Day School of Newport Beach, finished first in both individual and countdown competitions.  Kraemer Middle School won the team competition.

The MATHCOUNTS individual competition consisted of two rounds.  During the Sprint Round, matheletes answer 30 questions in 40 minutes with each correct answer counts as one point.  During the Target Round, matheletes answer 4 sets of two-question with six minutes for each set.  Each correct answer counts as two points.  The top 16 individuals advanced to the countdown competition.  The top 16 individuals are as follows in alphabetical order:

• Staphany Hou - Venado Middle School
• Lexie Jiang - Niguel Hills Middle School
• Brandon Kao - Kraemer Middle School
• Jasmin Kung - Rancho San Joaquin Middle School
• Ellen Lee - Kraemer Middle School
• Christian Liu - Sierra Vista Middle School
• Andrew Ma - Rancho San Joaquin Middle School
• Varun Raj - Rancho San Joaquin Middle School
• John Shin - Rancho San Joaquin Middle School
• Brian Wagner - Harbor Day School
• Alex Xiao - Venado Middle School
• Haotian Xu - Rancho San Joaquin Middle School
• Kai Yang - Venado Middle School
• Zachary Yee - Newhart Middle School
• Zheng Zhu - Kraemer Middle School
• Alex Zivkovic - Vista Verde School

Eight Avid students finished in the top 16 with Brian, Andrew, and Varun finished 1, 3, and 4 respectively and all advanced to the state competition.

The team round is a 20-question, 20-minute competition. Each correct answer receive two points.  The team score is the average of 4 team members plus the team round score.  The top three teams that advanced to the state competition are:

• Kraemer Middle School, coach Angelina Atmadja
• Rancho San Joaquin Middle School, coach Pauline Embree
• Sierra Vista Middle School, coach Karen Feng

The countdown round is a single elimination tournament with two matheletes face each other to answer challenge questions in less than 40 seconds each.  The top 4 students in countdown are

• Brian Wager
• Andrew Ma
• Zhang Zhu
• Alex Xiao