Superior Numbers-Crunching

What’s that great line about good luck? Depend on the rabbit’s foot if you will, but remember it didn’t work for the rabbit, quipped humorist R.E. Shay.

Thacher’s Math Team may have tucked some furry appendages in their back pockets (we don’t know for sure that they didn’t), but it was mental firepower and meticulous preparation that got the 11^th-12^th team to first place in both College Bowl and Overall, and Justin Myles ‘13 to 2^nd in the Chalk-Talk at this year’s Westmont College Mathematics Contest.

Four upperclass mathletes--Justin, and his classmates Josh Cho, Shravan Rajasekaran, and Michael Cho--joined four 9th and 10^th graders--Ben Chadwick ‘15, Ann Han ‘15, Jefferey Rhee ‘14, and Alex Zaldastani ‘14--to saddle up as Thacher’s competition for both small schools (such as Cate) and the bigger guns of Bishop Diego, Dos Pueblos, San Marcos, Oaks Christian, Santa Barbara High, and others.

As for the countless hours of pre-game coaching, it was in the capable and experienced hands of senior Math Club Presidents Lucy Han and Bridget Park, and, from the sidelines, mathematics teachers Gallia Vickery and Kurt Meyer. Both Bridget and Lucy had competed in earlier years, so they knew precisely what kind of practice would yield the strongest results.

Said Mr. Meyer of the seniors' leadership, “To get their teammates ready, the girls plied them with posers from previous Westmont contests and dredged up some pearls from the AMC and AIME contest books in order to create additional challenge. Clearly, their resourcefulness paid off."

In addition to the College Bowl and Chalk Talk rounds, competitors are challenged with collaborative written exams where their coherency of reasoning—not just the right answer—counts.

Of course, you do need to know how to find the nexus of at least four vectors: inherent smarts, lightning recall, accurate processing, and speed on the buzzer.

No bunny feet necessary for Thacher Toads!