Where a soccer player may kick a ball, they kick around variables. Where a baseball player picks up a bat and hits a single, they pick up a pencil and solve for y. And where a quarterback may utilize a run-pass option to convert on a third and long, they use the pythagorean theorem to accurately calculate the area of hypothetical triangles.
They are the mathletes of Avon Central Schools and they solve math problems.
Many a math problem was solved last week as Avon mathletes came together in the high school library for the second of four competitions during the 2021-22 school year.
Each meet consists of six rounds, said Corine Ghyzel, a high school math teacher who coaches Avon’s senior high mathletics team. The first five rounds are individual. Working alone, mathletes have 10 minutes per round to solve three questions of increasing difficulty. In the final round, mathletes work together to solve 10 questions in 25 minutes. As in the individual rounds, the difficulty of the questions increase as the round goes on.
“I would say arguably this is their favorite part about it because they’re talking math and kind of analyzing the question,” said Ghyzel, speaking during mathletes’ Dec. 9 competition.
Each competition revolves around a different set of mathematical principles, theories or type of question, said Ghyzel.
“So today, there were systems of equations, there were expressions, there were circles, the pythagorean theorem - that’s kind of the focus of this competition here today,” she said.
Mathlete Dev C. said in addition to being good at math, it’s important to approach competitions with an open mind - especially during the team round, when communicating effectively with fellow mathletes is paramount.
“Being outgoing and being able to confer with your other colleagues and then sharing your ideas, being able to convey what you're thinking” is really important, he said.
Important too is an ability to quickly change approaches and shift focus from the question that just stumped you or your team and on to the one that you still have a shot at solving.
“That will happen,” Dev said. “You skip a question but you keep thinking about it. That slows you down.”
It’s been a few years since Dev last competed in mathletics. He was a member of the team in eighth grade, but hasn’t competed since. Now a junior, Dev said he joined back up because he had a lot of fun when he was on the team three years ago.
“I’d encourage everyone to join. It’s fun and it's a nice way to meet new people,” he said. “It looks good on a college application, too.”
At their competition last week, Avon’s mathletes rode their calculators to a fourth place showing, finishing with 78 points - ahead of Caledonia-Mumford (77), Livonia’s team two (60), York (59) and Letchworth’s team two (49) but behind Livonia’s team one (106), Letchworth’s team one (114) and Geneseo (159).
Avon’s next competition is Jan. 13 at Livonia.
Avon mathletes came together in the high school library last week for the second of four competitions during the 2021-22 school year. They finished fourth among eight competing teams and will next compete at Livonia High School Jan. 13.