Not many people like solving difficult math problems. However, there is one group of students at the high school that do just that. They solve hard math problems to win competitions. These students are a part of the senior high math league team. Math league is one of the smaller competitive teams here at OHS. They have competitions just like every other team at the high school. Their meets are held every few weeks in the evening, on Mondays, at one of the three Rochester high schools. When the team isn’t competing in Rochester, they are practicing every Monday, after school, in Mr. Benson’s room. The math league team usually has about six people that are currently participating in the meets.

Points are earned during each meet by answering math problems of various difficulty, correctly. Each participant can compete in two individual rounds and the one team round. The individual topics include algebra, geometry, trigonometry and algebra 2. The team event combines all four of these topics into one event. The most difficult problems are put into the team event. At the end of the three rounds, all of the points from the individual and team rounds are counted up and teams are given their respective scores and places. So far this year, the Owatonna team is in third place in the Big 9. Junior Tommy Pfeifer said, “Even though we are doing well this year, we are always looking for new members.” Just because you’re not good at math doesn’t mean you can’t join math league. Everyone can compete in math league. Some of the questions are difficult, but there can be some easier questions that many people can get right.