The Sports and Recreation Center’s fieldhouse was filled with young brain power as nearly 240 problem solvers from 19 schools across Indiana and Illinois came up with the correct answers in the 2022 Rose-Hulman High School Mathematics Competition. One student from New Jersey also made the trek halfway across the country to participate, a place among the juniors in the contest. 

Students had one hour to answer 20 questions covering a wide range of mathematics categories. Awards were given at individual and school levels in all four grade levels.

For the 13^th straight year, Carmel High School earned overall first-place honors after having students post top scores in each grade division. Illinois’ Normal Community School was second and Evansville’s Signature School was third. 

Kevin Hu, a junior from Carmel, was the only student to post a perfect 100-point score in this year’s competition.

Other class division winners, with near-perfect 94 scores, were Harry Zhang and Cristian Herascu, both of Carmel, among seniors; Michael Qian, in the sophomore division; and Jennifer Hu, in the freshman class. Hu and second-place finisher Kaitlyn Park of Park Tudor High School received the Sally Shonk Memorial Award as the top freshmen problem solvers. Meanwhile, Qian and Adam Madni of Carmel earned the Mary Rhein Memorial Award for being the top sophomores. These mathematics book awards are named in honor of former mathematics teachers who supported the contest.

The annual competition is one of the reasons Rose-Hulman’s Department of Mathematics earned the American Mathematical Society’s award in 2021 for Exemplary Program or Achievement in a Mathematics Department. This honor recognizes a department that “has distinguished itself by undertaking an unusual or particularly effective program of value to the mathematics community, internally or in relation to the rest of society,” according to the AMS award announcement.

Organizing the event was mathematics professor John Rickert, PhD. Other department faculty, staff and student volunteers helped administer, grade and present awards during with the contest.

Top team and individual results were:

Overall Results: 1. Carmel, 2. Normal Community, 3. Signature School

Senior Individual: 1. Harry Zhang, Carmel; 1. Cristian Herascu, Carmel; 2. Daniel Chen, Culver Academies; 3. Grace Yang, Carmel; 4. Kenny Suzuki, Carmel; 5. Nathan Martin, Carmel; 6. Michael Tanoos, Terre Haute North; 7. Sreeansh Vakiti, Normal Community; 7. Gokul Balaji, Normal Community; 8. Adithya Sathyamurthy, Normal Community; 9. Ben Connelly, Fishers; 10. Paavan Kumar, Terre Haute South; 11. Ethan Render, Roncalli; 12. Sankalp Sristava, Fishers; 12. Johnathan Peters, Marion

Junior Individual: 1. Kevin Hu, Carmel; 2. Alex Lu, Park Tudor; 3. Sandra Yang, Carmel; 4. Karthik Varigonda, Carmel; 4. Brady Exoo, Terre Haute South; 5. Jonathan Yang, Carmel; 6. Benjamin Walker, Terre Haute North; 7. Bingrui Wang, Carmel; 8. Rachel Ang, Hamilton Southeastern; 9. Hannah Gao, Hamilton Southeastern; 9. Yuru Tang, Culver Academies; 10. Evan Nalley, Roncalli; 11. Siddhu Bhummpelli, Normal Community; 12. Jack Waren, Hamilton Southeastern; 12. Christopher Chow, Terre Haute South

Sophomore Individual:  1. Michael Qian, Carmel; 2. Adam Madni, Carmel; 3. Tanay Thakore, Signature; 4. Kellen Gong, Carmel; 4. Michael Bao, Carmel; 4. Jenny Li, Carmel; 4. Rohan Bhosale, Carmel; 5. David Jiang, Carmel; 6. Alexander Beloreshki, Milburn, New Jersey; 7. Sophia Fu, Carmel; 8. Trey Whitacre, Columbia City; 9. Akshay Pespunuri, Normal Community; 10. Pranav Chandar, Signature; 11. Austin Ferren, Marion; 12. Chase Frank, Fisers

Freshman Individual: 1. Jennifer Hu, Carmel; 2. Kaitlyn Park, Park Tudor; 3. Christopher Park, Terre Haute North; 4. Erica Zhao, Carmel; 5. Ethan He, Signature; 6. Jeffrey Chen, Terre Haute South; 7. Allison Shen, Carmel; 8. Brian Qian, Carmel; 8. Albert Lu, Culver Academies; 9. James Hansen, Zionsville; 10. Harshal Joshi, Normal Community; 11. Neel Patel, Signature; 11. Lalitha Neti, Normal Community; 11. Grayson Koch, Signature

Participating schools were Carmel, Center Grove, Champaign Central (Ill.), Columbia City, Culver Academies, Fishers, Hamilton Southeastern, Marion, Millburn (N.J.), Normal Community, Park Tudor, Roncalli, Salem, Signature School, Taylor, Terre Haute North Vigo, Terre Haute South Vigo, West Vigo, and Zionsville