Columbia math aces break Top Ten in Muscle Shoals

Math teams from Columbia Elementary School earned top honors and trophies at the Muscle Shoals Math Tournament. (CONTRIBUTED)

MADISON – Students at Columbia Elementary School claimed 80 percent of the Top Ten slots and first places for two grades in the Muscle Shoals Math Tournament.

“Every single one of them did great. All our children … including a third-grader who entered the fifth-grade competition,” parent sponsor Karyn Murphree said. “Those who did not walk away with a trophy, still ranked extremely high.”

Columbia’s fifth-grade team captured first place among 77 competitors in this grade category.

Eight students were in the Top Ten: Minh P., first; Thomas N., second; Neha C., fourth (as a fourth-grader); Joshua M., fifth; Shreya S., seventh (as a fourth-grader); Rebecca W., eighth; Yashi D., ninth (as a fourth grader); and Ria S., tenth.

“The scores were so close,” Murphree said. “In fact, Thomas, Neha, Joshua and Shreya all had the same score. They had to break the tie by working backwards through the test to see which problem they missed.”

Columbia’s sixth-grade team also came in first place among 107 total competitors.

All six competitors were in the Top Ten: Devika S., first; Sahil G., second; Yuti D., fourth (as a fourth-grader); Justin P., fifth (as a fourth-grader); Isaac W., sixth; and Santosh S., seventh, (as a fifth-grader).

“We’re thrilled to have a principal (Jamie Hill) who dedicated his day to math team. We had no teacher available to attend, which is required. Mr. Hill didn’t hesitate to … join us so we could register for this event. Because of him, Columbia dominated,” Murphree said.