Schools compete in regional math tournament

FLORENCE - Dillon and Wilson high schools and The Byrnes Schools were announced as this year’s division winners at the 32nd Pee Dee Regional High School Mathematics Tournament, which took place Tuesday at Francis Marion University’s McNair Auditorium.

Sunny Chung, a senior at Wilson, was this year’s individual winner.

Chung was declared the winner after competing against Ravi Bajaj, a ninth-grade student at Wilson, during a tie-breaker round.

Bajaj is the second-place individual winner, while Yoshiya Miyata of Trinity Collegiate School came in third place.

Honorable mentions included Terry Gooding of Marlboro High School and Timonthy Jian of Wilson.

Both Chung and Bajaj said math was their favorite subject and they enjoyed participating in the competition.

Chung said the tie-breaker round was “kind of nerve-racking,” but he was happy he won.

Bajaj, who has participated in several math tournaments locally and in the state, also said the tie-breaker round was tough, but he knew he would still come out as one of the top three winners.

More than 200 students from 17 Pee Dee high schools participated in this year’s event, which was sponsored by FMU’s Department of Mathematics and the Pee Dee Education Center.

High schools participating in the event included Creek Bridge, Dillon, Hannah-Pamplico, Hemingway, Johnsonville, Marion, McBee and Mullins in Division I; Hartsville, Marlboro, Mayo, West Florence and Wilson in Division II; and The Byrnes School, Marlboro Academy, Robert E. Lee Academy and Trinity Collegiate School in Division III.

Schools were divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III, based on their athletic classifications. Schools with 1A and 2A classifications were considered Division I, while 3A and 4A classifications were considered Division II. Division III included private schools.

The tournament consisted of all students taking a written math exam during the morning session and a final team competition in the afternoon.

After the written exam, the judges took the average of the top four exam scores to determine what school would advance to the finals, which consisted of five to seven questions.

The team with the highest score at the end of each round determined the champion for its respective division.

The finals consisted of four individuals from each qualifying school answering questions flashed onto an overhead screen. Points were awarded to the first, second and third persons who answered correctly. Tournament winners were awarded either a medal, plaque or certificate.