Math Team from Journey Middle shines at James Clemens tourney

MADISON – Hard work, teamwork and perseverance by the Math Team from Journey Middle School translated into 20 medals and trophies for all grades at James Clemens Math Tournament.

“Once again, Journey Jags rocked James Clemens’ tournament,” Math Team Teacher Mrinal Joshi said. (Joshi also teaches sixth-grade accelerated math.) “Journey brought home 20 medals overall, plus team trophies for first place for both sixth-grade and eighth-grade teams and second place for seventh-graders,” Joshi said.

Joshi wants her students to experience all types of competitions. “The distance of a Madison City Schools tournament is also in our favor, since we’re a Madison school. We went to have fun and gain experience.”

The Seventh-Grade Math Team includes Lilia Baker, Prashansa Basnet, Owen Boyette, Nuo Chen, Olivia Cochran, Victoria Dam, Thomas Francis, Dylan Glanzer, Lucy Hinnen, John Kawamoto, Aaron Kim, Ireland-Rose Lipusch, Eli McMillan, Channing Meyer, Liara Mullins, Dheeren Pammina, Garen Parker, Pradhan Astha, Zachary Shelley, Allison Tubbs, Zijiao (Alice) Wu and Zhao Zishi.

Eighth-Grade Math Team members are Ananya Bhovi, Neil Dube, IkeOluwanimi Farounbi, Rachel Harris, Antonio Hughes, Esteban Jerez, Joel Kim, Wylie Lansing, Mason Park, Krina Patel, Sean Ranguelov, Marlon Ross, Wylie Savage, Ivy Zhang, Kylie Zou and Austin Zhu.

Members of Sixth-Grade Math Team are Medha Akarapu, Andrea Barker, Wangyang Chen, Maximilian Cusack, Benjamin Dannelley, Rithvik Donthula, Theo Fant, Julia Feng, Gabriel Garcia, Meenoo Ha, Revanth Katragadda, Jonathan Lam, Barrett Mayer, Quang An Ngo, Lucas Osipychev, Anna Pham, Myles Pohl, Alexander Ranguelov, Ruxton Reynolds, Jack Silvia, Emma Templeton, James Tyrrell, Denny Vu and Steven Zhou.

To prepare, Journey teams collaborated and reworked written tests from the 2025 James Clemens tourney. This tournament is in its third year, causing a shortage of practice materials. “However, each year now, we should have more materials,” Joshi said.

“In seventh grade, nine out of 10 individual awards went to my students . . . a super proud moment for me,” Joshi said.

To determine team trophies, officials use the top four written-test scores and the four students’ team scores:

• Journey eighth grade — First place.

• Journey seventh grade – Second place.

• Journey sixth grade — First place. Individual Awards go to the top 10 students overall per grade level:

• Journey eighth grade – Journey earned seven of the top 10 trophies. Kylie Zou, first place; Austin Zhu, second; Esteban Jerez, third; Rachel Harris, fourth; Wylie Savage, fifth; Mason Park, seventh place; and Ivy Zhang, tenth.

• Journey seventh grade — Seventh grade received six of the top 10 trophies. Victoria Dam, third; John Kawamoto, fourth; Zishi Zhao, fifth; and Zachary Shelley, seventh and first place in math musical chairs; Allison Tubbs, ninth; and Nuo Chen, tenth.

• Journey sixth grade – Journey sixth-graders received seven of the top 10 trophies. Rithvik Donthula, first place and also won an individ- ual Pi trophy for first place in naming the digits of Pi; Myles Pohl, third; Jonathan Lam, fourth; Lucas Osipychev, fifth; Medha Akarapu, seventh; Theo Fant, eighth; Alex Ranguelov, ninth; and Wangyang Chen, tenth.

Even multiple-choice problems are difficult. Example: (x, y, z) is the solution to the following system of equations: 2x + y + z = 23; 2x − 4y + 3z = −31; −x + y − 3z = −1. What is the value of xyz? (A) 144. (B) 12. (C) 256. (D) 192. (E) NOTA.

“I was so VERY PROUD,” Joshi said. “I was impressed not just by the results, but by how they handled pressure, supported each other and stayed focused. It reminded me why coaching is so meaningful . . . watching students develop confidence and skills is the most satisfying part of the job. They represented themselves, their school and our team with discipline and sportsmanship. Their success reinforced my belief in them, and it also pushed me to keep finding ways to help them reach even higher levels,” Joshi said.

Seventh-graders commented on their tournament experience:

• Kylie Zou — First place. “I am very proud of me and my team for getting first in a challenging math competition.”

• Wylie Savage — “I couldn’t have done it without Mrs. Joshi.”

• Austin Zhu –“I take pride in how our team works hard and seeing it in our success.”

• Esteban Jerez – “The JC test was hard and taught me not to give up on hard questions.”

• Rachel Harris – “If you do your best and practice diligently, you will do well.”

• Victoria Dam – “It was an honor to participate in the JC competition. I couldn’t have done it without the support of my coach and team.”

• Lucas Osipychev – “James Clemens is a hard competition. Winning it feels really rewarding. It also hypes you up for the next math competition, along with learning more math.”

• Myles Pohl – “I tried my best to get the best. Hard work helped me accomplish my goals. I feel so proud to place highly among people.”

“Way to go, mathematicians. Journey Middle School is so proud of you! Such a proud moment for my team. I am beyond excited,” Joshi said.

Journey’s next tournament will be the MathCounts Chapter Competition on Feb. 21 at First Methodist Church in Huntsville.