Marist Math Team Places Fourth In Illinois State Final

CHICAGO, IL -- 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. The math team also finished as the number one Catholic school team in the state.

The senior team of Martha Kowalski (Hickory Hills), Kyle McNamara (Orland Park), Valerie Pavilonis (Mt. Greenwood), Jake Rahn (Oak Lawn), Benjamin Rickey (Midlothian), and Elise Viz (Homer Glen) were crowned state champions in pre-calculus.

The freshman-sophomore relay team of Nieve Boland (Oak Lawn), Tommy Kavanaugh (Oak Lawn), Emily Patula (Homer Glen), and Ken Polit (Clearing) took third.

The sophomore written geometry team of Conor McNamara (Orland Park), Jack Molenhouse (Mt. Greenwood), Ken Polit (Clearing), Kezen Sanchez (Oak Lawn), Zack Stack (Orland Park), and Nicole Viz (Homer Glen) finished second in state.

Juniors Ricardo Aguilar (Burbank), Nick Brown (Lansing), Michael Consentino (Oak Lawn), Sean Geary (Evergreen Park), Courteney Schulz (Palos Heights), and Eddie Stifter (Oak Lawn) 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.

Team practices began in early September and met almost daily until the state final. Along the way, the team competed in Catholic Math League South meets, Mathfax competitions, the American Mathematics Competition, 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.”