WA High School Math Team Wins League Championship

Yesterday, the Worcester Academy Upper School Math Team won its sixth Worcester County Math League (WOCOMAL) Championship in nine years, and its eighth WOCOMAL championship overall, to advance to the state championships on April 4.

The team beat numerous public, independent, and charter schools to secure the title in convincing fashion and defend its 2013 WOCOMAL title. Additionally, WA senior Jacky Lu had a perfect score for the meet.

The win builds on the astonishing successes of the team over the last decade – successes that have cemented the Academy’s reputation as one of the best math schools in the region.

The Worcester Academy Math Team has also won seven of the last eight Massachusetts Association of Mathematics Leagues (MAML) State Championships and four of the last eight New England Championships.

In December, the Math Team a Second Place finish nationwide in the 2013 AMC/Interstellar High School Mathematics National Championship. More than 500 school and 13,000 students participated in the contest.

2014 WOCOMAL CONTEST

Yesterday, Worcester led the final WOCOMAL contest of the year from start to finish. The finals results are as follows.

Top Ten:
1. Worcester Academy – 367 points
2. Westborough – 343 points
3. AMSA Charter – 336 points
4. Algonquin – 293 points
5. Nashoba – 281 points
6. Shrewsbury – 256 points
7. Mass Academy – 253 points
8. St. John's – 241 points
9. Groton-Dunstable – 218 points
10. Hopkinton – 216 points

Complete team results can be found at: http://www.wocomal.org/statistics/varsity/201314/201314v_team.html

WA math team advisor notes that 367 points is the second highest total in league history. The highest total, 372 points, was scored by Worcester Academy in 2009-10. Individually, Worcester Academy placed 15 students within the top 40, a new WA record and likely a league record.

PERFECT SCORE

With a perfect 18/18 in the final meet, senior Jacky Lu was able to jump from sixth place to first place, jumping over four non-WA students who each had a tough day. He tied WA sophomore Louis Cai for the highest point total of the year, but won the league's tiebreaker because, as captain, he always took the hardest rounds and the tiebreaker is based on round difficulty.

See complete individual results at: http://www.wocomal.org/statistics/varsity/201314/201314v_individual.html

This is the first time ever that WA has taken the #1 and #2 spots. Jacky joins seven other former league champions from WA: David Luan ’09, Christine Kim ’07, Amy Marinello ’98, Jack Yu ’95, Kevin Lee ’93, Hee Jung Chung ’91, and Phil Lim ’84. Eight individual champions is the most for any school in the league.

Also of note, WA seventh grader Rahul Krishnan won $100 for finishing first overall in the freshman division of WOCOMAL. He is the fifth WA student to earn that honor, joining David Luan ’09, Amy Marinello ’98, David Green ’95, and Keith Bennett ’91.

ADDITIONAL MATH SUCCESSES
Over the past decade, Worcester Academy has been recognized as one of the finest math schools in New England with Academy students excelling in competition at the local, state, regional, and national levels.

In December 2012, Worcester Academy math students were counted among the best in the nation, finishing 11th in the Ciphering Time Trials administered by National Assessment & Testing.

Additionally, Worcester Academy is regularly ranked among top teams at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute Invitational Math Meet, and Academy students frequently outpace its peers in Massachusetts Math Olympiad competitions, and on the American Mathematics Competition (AMC) Test, the most rigorous high school test in the nation, sponsored by the Mathematical Association of America.

In 2006, Worcester Academy’s exceptional math program was recognized by Boston Magazine as “Best Math School” for the Academy’s outstanding ability to foster a student’s math talents.

Recently, the Worcester Academy Middle School Math Team, coached by WA’s Gilles Legault, placed First at the Intermediate Math League of Eastern Massachusetts meet. Worcester Academy students also picked up all three top scorer awards, including the only perfect score.

ABOUT WORCESTER ACADEMY

Worcester Academy is a co-ed day and boarding school for grades 6 to 12 and postgraduates that is committed to innovative teaching and learning, urban leadership, making a global impact, and achieving the honorable everyday. Find us on the web at www.worcesteracademy.org

To learn more, contact Neil Isakson, director of external communications, at 508-754-5302 x135, or at neil.isakson@worcesteracademy.org