FMU math tournament hosts 41st contest

For the past 38 years, the equation “Francis Marion + the Pee Dee’s top math students” has always equaled the Pee Dee Regional High School Mathematics Tournament.

The tournament, sponsored and presented the FMU Department of Mathematics, has grown from a small affair, to something high school students train for far in advance.

The tournament’s 41st iteration took place on Tuesday, Dec. 5 in the McNair Science Facility.

The Pee Dee Regional High School Mathematics Tournament – sponsored by Francis Marion University, Mu Alpha Theta, and the Pee Dee Education Center – consists of two portions: a written competition, and a stage competition.

Twenty-two schools and approximately 330 students from throughout the Pee Dee took part in this year’s tournament.

Over the years, the tournament has grown, both on the side of the university, and in the amount of focused placed on winning by the participants.

The winners of the high school division competitions were: Division I – Lake View High School, runner up – Central High School; Division II – Scholars Academy, runner up – Wilson High School; Division III – Trinity-Byrnes Collegiate School, runner up – The King’s Academy.

The winners of the written portion were as follows: First place – Zhongqi Liang, Trinity-Byrnes Collegiate School; Second Place – Alex Tew, Scholars Academy; Etash Kumar Guha, Wilson High School; honorable mention – Eric Zhang, Scholars Academy; Bang Tran, Trinity-Byrnes Academy; Dashiell Stevanovich, Scholars Academy; Eric Niu, Hartsville High School; Noah Johnson, Scholars Academy; Michael Jiron, Lake View High School; Alexis Clark Scholars Academy; Yingjie Cheng, Trinity-Byrnes and Ryan Boo, Scholars Academy.

The following schools participated in this year’s tournament: Carvers Bay High School, Central High School (of Pageland), Chesterfield High School, Creek Bridge High School, Green Sea Floyds High School, Johnsonville High School, Lake View High School, Lee Central High School, Marion High School, Mullins High School, Academy for the Arts, Sciences and Technology, Carolina Forest High School, Early College High School, Georgetown High School, Hartsville High School, Mayo High School for M. S. & T., Scholars Academy, South Florence High School, West Florence High School, Wilson High School, The King’s Academy and Trinity-Byrnes Academy.

For more information on the 41st Pee Dee Regional High School Mathematics Tournament, visit http://departments.fmarion.edu/mathematics.