Crayton Teacher Leads State MATHCOUNTS Team to 14th In Nation

The 2006 South Carolina MATHCOUNTS team, coached by math teacher John Rushman of Richland One’s Crayton Middle School, recently placed 14th in the nation in the Lockheed Martin MATHCOUNTS National Competition in Arlington, Va.

In its 23rd year, MATHCOUNTS is a national math enrichment, coaching and competition program that promotes middle-school mathematics achievement.

Student representatives of all 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands and the Department of Defense State Department schools worldwide participated in the national competition.

Two of South Carolina’s four team members placed among the nation’s top 30 "mathletes." Ming Zhe-Lin of Riverside Middle School in Greer placed 25th, and Peter Rassolov of Dent Middle in Richland District Two placed 28th. The other two members of the team, Sean Soni of Crayton Middle and Thomas Kersting of Oakbrook Middle in Ladson, contributed to the team-round score.

The top 15 teams were: Virginia, Washington, Indiana, Texas, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, California, Florida, Arkansas, Michigan, South Carolina and New York. South Carolina’s MATHCOUNTS team also was recognized as the Most Improved Team at the competition.

Crayton’s MATHCOUNTS team won the state competition again this year, making it the school’s third state MATHCOUNTS title in the past four years.

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CUTLINE:

Crayton math teacher John Rushman, who coached the state MATHCOUNTS team, and team member Sean Soni of Crayton, proudly display their plaques from the national competition. South Carolina’s MATHCOUNTS team placed 14th in the nation.