Marist Math Team 2018

The Marist math team completed its 2017-18 competitive season in fourth place in the state in division 3AA at the Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics (ICTM) final on May 5 at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. They also finished as the number one Catholic school team in the state.

The senior team of Martha Kowalski, Kyle McNamara, Valerie Pavilonis, Jake Rahn, Benjamin Rickey, and Elise Viz were crowned state champions in pre-calculus. The freshman-sophomore relay team of Nieve Boland, Tommy Kavanaugh, Emily Patula, and Ken Polit took third. The sophomore written geometry team of Conor McNamara, Jack Molenhouse, Ken Polit, Kezen Sanchez, Zack Stack, and Nicole Viz finished second in state. Juniors Ricardo Aguilar, Nick Brown, Michael Consentino, Sean Geary, Courteney Schulz, and Eddie Stifter made up the Algebra 2 written team, which finished third in state. Marist placed in the top ten in eight of the 12 events at the state final.

It was a long journey for the team with practices starting in early September and meeting almost daily until the state final. Along the way, the team competed in Catholic Math League South meets, Mathfax competitions, the American Mathematics Competition, and the Mathematics Teachers Association of Chicago and Vicinity (MTA) math contest at Loyola University. The team won the ICTM regional on February 24 at Lincoln-Way East High School with the highest score in the state, which earned them an invite to the state final. This year’s squad continued the long streak of Marist advancing to state.

“I have been coaching the Marist math team alongside my colleague, Owen Glennon, for more than 20 years,” Marist math teacher Jeff Nicholson ’81 said. “It is amazing how our team always comes together with new members each year to be as successful as they are. I give credit to the students for having a great work ethic, dedication, and drive to keep up the tradition of being a top math team in the state.”