Robert Igbokwe On Saturday, February 23rd, Latin’s Math Team ventured to Niles West High School for the IHSA Regional Math Tournament, kicking off the mathletes’ season. There, several of the team’s members individually placed in their competitions, and the team earned an astounding second place in the competitive 2A division. Among the highlights, the freshmen/sophomore eight person team and the freshmen/sophomore two person team won. Bianca Arriaga, a member of the victorious 8-Person Frosh/Soph team, said, “I love the Math Team culture. Everyone is so supportive and collaborative. I used to not think of myself as a ‘true math person,’ but now it has become my main passion.” “After competing on math team at Sacred Heart, I was immediately drawn to join Latin’s team,” freshman Joey Gorman commented. “I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to compete with such talented students.” To most, the idea of even finishing their assigned math homework sounds nauseating, but not for sophomore Liza Ampong. She enjoys getting even more math problems from the packets at Math Team practices. “I can easily get caught up in a tricky problem and forget about everything else,” she mentioned. To give an idea of just how crazy hard some problems are, here is an example: In a geometric sequence, the last term is 1458, the common ratio is -3, and the sum of the terms is 1094. Determine the second term of this geometric sequence. Junior Emma Beier, a competitor on the Junior/Senior 8-Person team, said, “I appreciate the challenge of math team. It is really fun to work on problems that push you to your limits (no pun intended). I enjoy meeting mathletes from other schools with the same intellectual vitality and team comradery.” Mr. van Benthuysen, one of the Math Team coaches along with Ms. Amusin, noted, “Overall, I am such a proud coach because always gives it their all.” Math Team team will competing  at the State Championships in May at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, so stay tuned for their future accomplishments.]]>