Photo Provided St. Mary Central School in Martins Ferry student Olivia Murray and Powhatan Point Elementary School student Gunner Aanerud win the district level for their American Legion Flag Program test scores.

COLUMBUS — For the third consecutive year, River Elementary School was represented at the MATHCOUNTS state competition at Columbus State Community College.

Four students from River Elementary were among the top 180 students in the state contest.

Eighth grade students Landon Indermuhle, Kenedi Williams and Rebecca Blair were joined by seventh-grader Keller King. Their team won the regional championship at Belmont College on Feb. 7 before moving on to state competition March 15.

MATHCOUNTS is a national organization that focuses on engaging middle school students in math. It brings together students from all 50 states. MATHCOUNTS encourages students to put their math and analytical skills to work to solve real-world problems and scenarios in competition with their peers.

Courtney Still, River Elementary math teacher for seventh and eighth grades, took four teams to the regional competition. Still has coached the RES MATHCOUNTS team for six years. For the past three years, River has had a team advance to the state competition.

Still is pleased with the performance of her teams, but equally happy with their positive attitude. “The students put in the extra work to prepare for the regional and state competition,” Still said. “They are up against the best students in the state, who may have more advanced math classes available to them. It is quite an honor to have our small town school achieve such a great accomplishment of attending the state competition for three years in a row.”

Nearly 100 competitors from seven area schools participated in the regional event at Belmont College in February, including students from: Buckeye Trail Middle School, Powhatan Elementary School and River Elementary School in Ohio, as well as West Virginia teams from Brooke Middle School, Oak Glen Middle School, Triadelphia Middle School and Warwood Middle School.

For more than 35 years, volunteers, educators, and industry sponsors have come together to make MATHCOUNTS possible for middle school students around the country. The event includes both individual and team competitions. Belmont College has hosted the math enrichment competition for more than 25 years.

The West Virginia State Competition will be held on March 29 at Braxton County Middle School, Flatwoods, West Virginia.

Non-registered winners compete only for medallions at the local event.

At the regional contest, registered team awards for Ohio went to:

1st Place Team — River Elementary School: Rebecca Blair; Landon Indermuhle; Keller King; and Kenedi Williams. Coached by: Courtney Still.

2nd Place Team — Buckeye Trail Middle School: Ava Cola; Rylee Giesey; Weston Goldsmith; and Maddison Hannahs. Coached by: Toni Gallow.

Also, advancing to state as individuals are Rylee Giesey and Maddison Hannanhs both are from Buckeye Trail Middle School.

Individual Ohio registered awards were earned by:

1st place: Rylee Giesey from Buckeye Trail Middle School

2nd place: Landon Indermuhle from River Elementary

Non-Registered team awards for Ohio went to:

1st Place Team — Buckeye Trail Team E: Skye Bondy; Kamari Carpenter; Ella Hall; and Genevieve Hess. Coached by: Toni Gallow

2nd Place Team: — Powhatan Elementary Team B: Dietrich Aanerud; Jack Martin; Hannah Ogilbee; and Isabella Weekley. Coached by: Sheila Thomas.

Non-Registered individual awards for Ohio went to:

1st place Individual — Isabella Weekley from Powhatan Elementary School.

2nd place Individual — Skye Bondy from Buckeye Trail Middle School.

Registered team awards for West Virginia went to:

1st Place Team — Triadelphia Middle School: Hudson Bradshaw; William Liu; Sebastian Molina; and Peilin Yu. Coached By: Scot Kangisser.

2nd Place Team — Brooke Middle School: Parker Bee; Ashley McDonough; Keenan Mowry; and Easton Williams. Coached by: Jami Packer & Stephanie Saldana.

Both top teams advanced to the state competition.

Also, advancing to state as individuals are Derek Sperl from Brooke Middle School, Caroline Wack and Rosalie Dobson both from Triadelphia Middle School, and Jackson Phillips from Oak Glen Middle School.

Individual West Virginia registered awards were earned by:

1st Place Individual: Derek Sperl from Brooke Middle School.

2nd Place Individual: Peilin Yu from Triadelphia Middle School.

Non-Registered team awards for West Virginia went to:

1st place — Triadelphia Team C: Mollie Brammer; Jay Crutchfield; Austin Robinson; and Ludovica Santini. Coached By: Scot Kangisser.

2nd place — Triadelphia Team B: Gabielle Kangisser; Lucy Murfin; Daisy Tuttle; and Nicola Weyand. Coached by: Scot Kangisser.

Non-Registered individual awards for West Virginia went to:

1st Place Individual: Ludovica Santini from Triadelphia Middle School.

2nd Place Individual: John Green from Triadelphia Middle School.