Powell Middle School’s Mathcounts team has had a successful year. Their team placed first at state in March despite the competition being split in half and they enjoyed overwhelming success at the Northwest College Chapter contest in February.

At state, Powell took first place as a team thanks to the quick calculations of students David Stensing, Calvin Opps, Memphis Solberg and Hunter Taylor. Team placement is decided based on the performance on tests and how well students performed individually, Opps said. Stensing and Opps went on to place ninth and 10th in the state.

Originally the two students placed fourth and seventh when they competed at state way back on March 4, but this was only against half of the state’s teams. Severe weather prevented a significant portion of  teams from attending, which meant the competition was split into two and full results were not available until Wednesday. If Stensing had retained his place in the top four he would have moved onto the national competition in Orlando, Florida. However, Stensing and the rest of the team are excited for their coach Dale Estes, who will coach the national team in Orlando. The coach from the first place team is chosen to take the state’s top four, Opps explained.

But being first place team at state was not Powell Mathcounts’ only success of the season. In February, the Mathcounts club swept the Northwest Chapter competition at Northwest College. Stensing, Opps, Solberg and Taylor’s team also took first place at this competition and the awards continued. Individually Solberg took first place, Opps took second, Landon Petersen took third place, Taylor took fourth, Gianreye D’Alessandro took fifth place and Stensing took sixth. For the countdown round, which is made up of the top 10 students individually and structured similarly to Jeopardy, Opps took first, Taylor took second, Mackenzie Legler took third and Landon Petersen placed fourth.

The competition was a confidence booster for Solberg, who is currently in his first full year as a Mathcounts competitor.

“It felt really nice to be able to finish first in a lot of different areas because it just made me feel really good about myself,” Solberg said.