Strong performance by math team provides foundation for future success

By Dan Horgan Class of 2008

With one of four meets under its belt, the WHS Math Team has embarked on what they hope to be a great season. Under the guidance of Coach Kathleen Milne, the group has been working very hard to ensure a high ranking amongst the thirty-two teams in the Southeastern Math League. Members of the math team undergo brief, but intense training to prepare themselves for battle at the meets. They complete practice problem sets consisting of three questions in five different categories divided by subject matter. The ten team members who score highest on the problem sets go on to compete in the meets. With seniors Erin Teich and David Walsh leading the charge, the “mathletes” of Walpole started the year off strong, finishing eleventh in the league at the team’s first meet. Doing well for the group was Teich, who scored fifteen out of a possible eighteen points. The team also scored well on the group problems which consisted of two groups of five Walpole mathletes working together on three problems within a ten minute time period. While most teams stack one of their groups with their top five players, Coach Milne has a different strategy, using the key concept of division to the team’s advantage. “I try to set up my players in a way we get the most points,” said Mrs. Milne, aware of the fact that the two groups’ points add up together. “Our two groups of five actually tied each other in the first meet.” With the strong performance, the team can reflect a bit on the success they have had. However, they still feel that they can move up a bit in the standings, especially in their particular division, where they finished fifth out of five at the first meet. “I think we’ll do better than we did the first meet,” said team member William Eicher. “There were teams that were only a few points ahead of us, and there’s no reason we can’t catch them.” Among the teams Walpole would like to subtract from their list are Medway and Franklin, who the Rebels just missed beating in the meet. “We were only a few points off, and since the points add up meet by meet, I’d really like to get them,” said Milne. The next few weeks will be spent in preparation for a trip to Sharon where Walpole will look to catch the teams ahead of them and hold off those behind. Milne notes the team’s near top third finish, and is confident they can stay there with hard work.