MATH TEAM 2004
The Championship Year
Captain
KENNY BASKETT (State team member)
VARSITY TEAM MEMBERS
James Bascle
Alicia Bellis
Eryn Bernardy
Max Bernardy (GHP)
Joseph Bost
William Brawley
Mitch Costley (GHP, State team member)
Amanda Dugan
Justin Gilstrap
Erin Gorman
Alex Hamilton
Kayla Koch
Amy Lanchester
Amin Makhani (Advanced Math MVP; ARML; Mu Alpha Theta President, State team member)
Garett McLaurin
Kathryn Moore
Bre’Ana Paige
John Powell
Lacy Reynolds
Frankie Snavely
Kevin Todd (PreCal MVP)
Ben Wu (Calculus MVP; ARML, State team member)
Jodie Wu
Jonathan Wysolovski
Drew Yaun
JUNIOR VARSITY TEAM MEMBERS
Melanie Allen (Geometry MVP)
John Barnett
Allyse Keel
Julie Leber
Salman Makhani (Algebra MVP)
Sophia Newton
Brandi Paige
Britt Schneider
When the Math Team placed first at the Mercer University Tournament in November, we had our first thought that maybe this was our year! That thought turned to reality in April, when we placed first at the State Tournament!
We began the year with a desire to have more than just red polos. Some of the team didn’t like the red color, so we opted to get black polos with our logo embroidered on the chest this year.
We also began the year with the desire to win every tournament we could. The team worked harder than ever to be successful. Early on, we knew at least one of the team members was working hard to do everything to win: 11th grader Ben Wu placed first at the Mercer University tournament in November by earning a perfect score!
One of the ideas the team had was to take the short 6-page pamphlet Dr. Garner created -- arrogantly called “The Book of Knowledge” -- and expand it to encompass more tricks, formulas, and problem solving strategies some of the team had picked up over the last few years. From 2004 to now, The Book of Knowledge has been expanded and improved by every Captain. This little book is now a 150-page tome!
This was also the first year of the Rockdale Mathematics Competition. The team had been kicking around the idea of a tournament for at least a year, and by Fall 2003, the students and Dr. Garner decided to take a chance. It was decided that the tournament should follow the Alabama model -- have a test and ciphering for each of pre-algebra, algebra I, geometry, algebra II, and comprehensive -- in order to encourage more middle school students to do math competitions.
The students wrote the five sets of tests and five sets of ciphering with editing by Dr. Garner. Food, awards, and invitations were coordinated. Every middle and high school in the northern half of the state was mailed an invitation. The students wanted our trophies to be better than the ubiquitous plastic ones at most other tournament, so we opted for real metal cups on marble bases as team trophies.
The first Rockdale Mathematics Competition took place on January 26, 2004. Over 500 students attended. Many trophies were awarded since the top three teams per subject per division were recognized. (That is, the top three 3A Algebra II teams received a trophy, as did the top three 4A Algebra II teams, etc.) The top 15 individuals per subject were recognized as well. The teams with the highest scores and the top individual in each subject were...
- Pre-Algebra: Chamblee Middle School; Leighton Cheng, Chamblee;
- Algebra I: Chamblee Middle School; Howard Tong, Chamblee;
- Geometry: Greater Atlanta Christian School; Peter Huang, Lakeside;
- Algebra II: Lakeside High School; Caitlin Mitchell, Perry;
- Comprehensive: Greater Atlanta Christian; Livia Zarnescu, Pope.
LEFT: The Varsity team awaiting ciphering to begin in the Lassiter High School auditorium, December 6, 2003. Foreground: Garett McLaurin. Seated in row, left to right: Mitch Costley, Kenny Baskett, Amy Lanchester, Kayla Koch
RIGHT: The Varsity team with their third place trophy at the Lassiter Math Tournament, December 6, 2003. Front row: Amy Lanchester, Kayla Koch, Jodie Wu, Garett McLaurin. Back row: Ben Wu, Amin Mkahani, Mitch Costley, Kenny Baskett
But even the success of the tournament did not compare to winning the State Championship! That was an unbelievable day that only got better with the announcement that three of the four State team members from Rockdale Magnet were selected for ARML. (Unfortunately, Mitch Costley has already committed himself to International Science Fair which conflicted with the ARML practices, and had to back out.)
At the Magnet Banquet that year, Math Team T-shirts were introduced as a reward for winning the state tournament. They were red with our logo on the front and “State Champions 2004” on the back. Another MVP award was added this year also. As many students went beyond AP Calculus, an “Advanced Math” MVP award was inaugurated in the form of a bust of Archimedes.
Below you will find our record of placements at the few tournaments the Math Team attended that school year. Team awards are listed first, with individual awards listed after the team member’s name.
October 18, 2003, Cobb County Invitational Math Tournament, Marietta.
7th place Varsity team: Max Bernardy, William Brawley, Mitch Costley, Justin Gilstrap, Frankie Snavely, Jodie Wu, Ben Wu, Melanie Allen, John Barnett, Salman Makhani.
October 25, 2003, University of Georgia Math Tournament, Athens.
9th place team: Kenny Baskett, Amin Makhani, Kevin Todd, Drew Yaun.
November 8, 2003, Mercer University Math Tournament, Macon.
1st place team: Kenny Baskett (10th place), Mitch Costley (8th place), Amin Makhani (7th place), Kathryn Moore, Bre'Ana Paige, J. P. Pugh, Kevin Todd, Ben Wu (1st place).
December 6, 2003, Lassiter High School Invitational Math Tournament, Marietta.
JV team: Melanie Allen, John Barnett, Allyse Keel, Julie Leber, Salman Makhani, Sophia Newton, Brandi Paige, Dion Roseberry, Britt Schneider
3rd place Varsity team: Kenny Baskett, Mitch Costley (10th place), Kayla Koch, Amy Lanchester, Garett McLaurin, Amin Makhani, Ben Wu (7th place), Jodie Wu.
December 6, 2003, Vestavia Hills High School Math Tournament, Vestavia Hills.
6th place Comprehensive team: Kevin Todd, Drew Yaun.
February 7, 2004, Georgia Southwestern State University Math Tournament, Americus.
2nd place 4A team: Kenny Baskett, Max Bernardy, Mitch Costley (3rd place), Amanda Dugan, Amy Lanchester, Amin Makhani, John Powell, Jonathan Wysolovski.
February 10, 2004, AMC.
School winner, AMC10A: Jonathan Wysolovski.
School winner, AMC12A: Ben Wu
February 14, 2004, Armstrong Atlantic State University Math Tournament, Savannah.
1st place JV team: John Barnett, Julie Leber, Salman Makhani, Sophia Newton
4th place JV team: Allyse Keel, Brandi Paige, Britt Schneider, Joseph Skypek.
2nd place Varsity team: Kevin Todd, Ben Wu (1st place 11th grader, 2nd place Overall), Jodie Wu, Drew Yaun.
3rd place Varsity team: Justin Gilstrap, Kayla Koch, Frankie Snavely, Jonathan Wysolovski
4th place Varsity team: James Bascle, Eryn Bernardy, Amy Lanchester, Garett McLaurin
9th place Varsity team: Joseph Bost, Alicia Bellis, Erin Gorman, Alex Hamilton
February 25, 2004, AMC.
School winner, AMC10B: James Bascle
School winner, AMC12B: Kenny Baskett, Kevin Todd
March 13, 2004, Furman University Math Tournament, Greenville.
6th place team: Kenny Baskett, Mitch Costley, Amanda Dugan, Amin Makhani, John Powell, Ben Wu.
March 20, 2004, Georgia Tech Math Competition.
Mitch Costley, 10th place Varsity; Amy Lanchester, 10th place JV. Varsity Semi-Finalists: Kenny Baskett, Max Bernardy, Amin Makhani, Ben Wu, Jodie Wu.
March 27, 2004, Greater Atlanta Christian School Math Tournament, Norcross.
7th place Geometry team: Allyse Keel, Brandi Page.
6th place Algebra II team: John Barnett, Julie Leber, Salman Makhani.
2nd place Comprehensive team: James Bascle, Kenny Baskett, Max Bernardy, Joseph Bost, William Brawley, Justin Gilstrap, Kayla Koch, Amy Lanchester, Amin Makhani (4th place), Garett McLaurin, Kathryn Moore, Bre'Ana Paige, John Powell, Lacy Reynolds, Frankie Snavely, Kevin Todd, Ben Wu (3rd place), Jodie Wu (7th place), Jonathan Wysolovski, Drew Yaun.
April 17, 2004, Junior Varsity State Math Tournament, College Park.
1st place 4A team (3rd place Overall): John Barnett, Kayla Koch, Amy Lanchester, Salman Makhani (5th place), Kathryn Moore, Bre'Ana Paige, Brandi Paige, Jonathan Wysolovski (3rd place).
April 24, 2004, GCTM Varsity State Math Tournament, Macon.
1st place Overall: Kenny Baskett (18th place), Mitch Costley (7th place), Amin Makhani (10th place), Ben Wu (1st place).