Journey claims impressive awards at James Clemens Math Tournament
MADISON – Journey Middle School’s Math Team headed due west for a few miles to commandeer numerous awards at the James Clemens Math Tournament on Feb. 1.
Sixth and seventh-grade teams captured first place, individuals earned 14 medals, and seventh-graders claimed nine out of 10 trophies.
Esteban Jerez, first-place winner among seventh-graders, said the tourney “was one of the hardest tests of the year, compared to other competitions (besides MathCounts). Although the tournament was very challenging, it was still fun.”
Second-place winner in seventh grade, Kylie Zou said, “I like how challenging James Clemens was because it gave me an opportunity to learn from my mistakes.”
“What a great day to be a Journey Jag! I’m so very proud of my team,” Math Team teacher Mrinal Joshi said. Joshi chairs Journey’s Math Department. “Once again, Journey Jags rocked the competition. I’m beyond excited.”
The tournament attracted 11 schools. A total of 145 students in grades 5-8 entered the contest.
The sixth-grade team included Lilia Baker, Mathieu Bruer, Thomas Francis, Oliver Hanson, Harleigh Henderson, John Kawamoto, Aaron Kim, Eli McMillan, Channing Meyer, Dheeren Pammina, Garen Parker, Astha Pradhan, Allison Tubbs and Peter Zhao.
Seventh-graders were Ananya Bhovi, Neil Dube, IkeOluwanimi Farounbi, Rachel Harris, Caden Howard, Antonio Hughes, Esteban Jerez, Joel Kim, Vansh Patel, Marlon Ross, Rohan Sahoo, Wylie Savage, Ivy Zhang and Kylie Zou.
To practice, students worked on written tests from James Clemens’ 2024 tournament. Since the James Clemens Tournament has been running for only the second year, we didn’t have enough practice materials. However, each year now, we should have more,” Joshi said.
“In seventh grade, nine out of 10 individual awards went to my students,” Joshi said. “It was a super proud moment for me.”
For team trophies, officials take the top four scores on written tests and the top four students’ team scores. Journey’s seventh grade and sixth grade both earned first place.
The top 10 students overall per grade level earned Individual Awards: Journey sixth grade — John Kawamoto, third place; Garen Parker, sixth place.
For seventh grade, Journey students won nine out of 10 Individual Awards: Esteban Jerez, first place; Kylie Zou, second; Ike Farounbi, third; Ananya Bhovi, fourth; Ivy Zhang, fifth; Wylie Savage, sixth; Caden Howard, seventh; Rohan Sahoo, ninth; and Rachel Harris, tenth.
In eighth grade, Tran Ngo took third place, followed by Austin Zhu in seventh and Aryana Baria in ninth place.
For its next tournament, Journey Math Team will enter MathCounts chapter competition at Liberty Middle School.
Joshi felt intense pride for her students. “I’ve taught the seventh-grade team for a second year now. It’s so rewarding to see the growth these students have made in two years,” Joshi said. “My seventh-grade team is hard-working, self-motivated and competitive…and that’s what makes a math team good.”
Seventh-grader Ike Farounbi, who earned third place individually, said, “What I liked about James Clemens was it made me think outside the box compared to other competitions.”
Fourth-place winner Ananya Bhovi, also a seventh-grader, said, “James Clemens was one of the harder competitions that we went to, but it was a really great opportunity for me and our team.”
