Middle school math league completes inaugural season

by Trevor Hass

Sports Reporter

The final math meet for the middle school league took place Jan. 11 at Salk Middle School. There were 65 students from the four district schools at the meet.

The hosts ended up winning the final meet, but season honors went to second-place Rogers and first-place VandenBerge. In many cases, students were pressed to learn previously unseen material at a pace that would be unheard of in a normal classroom.

Sixth graders were at the biggest disadvantage, as the vast majority of what was tested on was new to them. Because of this disadvantage, the top three sixth graders in the league were recognized for their efforts. The top scoring sixth grader was Lyndsey Redepenning from VandenBerge, with second and third place going to Rogers students Zach Mink and Giana Seminari, respectively.

To close the meet, awards were handed out to the Top 10 finishers in the league for the year. First place went to eighth grader Joshua Bauer from VandenBerge. There were five other students from VandenBerge in the Top 10. They were Sam Orgon (second), Mya Yoder (tied for third), Adam Eldredge (tied for fifth), Sophia Tobin (seventh) and Gabe Livingston (ninth).

Micah Kafka (tied for third) and Noah Paulsen (eighth) were award winners from Salk. Isaac Mize (tied for fifth) and Ritvik Kosuri (10th) represented Rogers in the Top 10. Mize’s finish was especially impressive as he was only present for four of the five meets.

All in all, Curt Michener, who was in charge of the league, said the first season went very smoothly.

“Much of that was because of the numerous Elk River high school math students who were willing to help run the meets,” Michener said. “Their help was truly appreciated by the coaches of the four teams.”