After more than a decade, Luverne High School returns a team to the Minnesota State High School Mathematics League Tournament.
Eight students will compete in the March 15 virtual math bowl and tournament organized by Augsburg University in Minneapolis.
According to the university’s website, over 3,000 students from nearly 180 schools participate in 26 divisions each year.
Luverne has competed each year since the 1986-87 season, and this year will be the seventh time it has advanced beyond the regular season. The last time was in 2009.
Math League was founded in 1980.
Luverne belongs to the Dynamic South Division with Lakeview, Marshall and Montevideo high schools. The division is part of Class A Section 2 with Blue Earth Area, Fairmont, Lake Crystal-Welcome Memorial and Tri-City United in Montgomery.
Class A consists of 52 schools. LHS finished the season in seventh place.
This year’s team was named division and regional champions, which isn’t an easy task according to second-year LHS adviser Aaron Perkins.
“There are times, looking at the questions and given the time constraints, if I don’t think I can answer very many of the questions,” he said.
There are 16 LHS students in Math League; eight compete as a team and the others compete as individuals.
Competing as a team at the state tournament are seniors Xavier Carbonneau, John Miller, Solveig Tofteland, Kaitlyn Anderson, juniors Trista Baustian Olivia Huisman, Burke Johnson, and sophomore Parker Carbonneau.
As the top individual in the division, Xavier Carbonneau competed in the state individual tournament March 8.
As a team, Luverne competitors achieved their highest score of the season in the last of five meets. They tied Barnum High School with 176 points. St. Croix Lutheran High School had the top score of 325 points.
Teams answer as many of the 24 questions as they can in 12 minutes (many without the use of a calculator) in the four topics of algebra, geometry, trigonometry and precalculus.