Lexington Eighth-Grader Wins National Math Competition

Question: What is the greatest integer that must be a factor of the sum of any four consecutive positive odd integers?

We'll let you think about that one for a minute...

But as you do, consider also that it took Lexington's Alec Sun only about 20 seconds to arrive at the correct answer. Which is 8, by the way.

And with that correct answer, Sun, an eighth-grader at Jonas Clarke Middle School here in Lexington, was crowned crowned National Champion at the 2013 Raytheon MATHCOUNTS National Competition on May 10 at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park in Washington, D.C.

To see Sun deliver his final answer and take the title, check out the video to your right.

According to a press release, Sun was among 224 middle school students competing.He emerged victorious in the one-on-one Countdown Round, during which the 12 Mathletes with the highest written test scores competed for the title of this year’s Raytheon MATHCOUNTS National Champion.

Sun made history as the first MATHCOUNTS competitor ever to participate in the final Countdown Round three years in a row, the press release said, adding that it was a banner day for the Massachusetts team.

From the press release:

In the team competition, Massachusetts captured the title of National Team Champion for the second year in a row. Team members include James Lin, McCall Middle School; Matthew Lipman, Meadowbrook School; Michael Ren, The Pike School; Alec Sun, Jonas Clarke Middle School; and coach Joshua Frost, from Jonas Clarke Middle School.

For more information about MATHCOUNTS, check out www.mathcounts.org.