Cape students winners in math league competition

Cape Henlopen school district students earned top honors for their math prowess during this year's Delaware Secondary School Mathematics League competition.

Beacon Middle School won its regional division for seventh and eighth grade; Cape Henlopen High School won for grades 10 through 12.

Finbar Rishko, a seventh-grader at Beacon Middle School, took first-place honors, as did Kalen Stevenson, an eighth-grader at Mariner Middle School. Cape high freshman Meghan Patel took second place.

Tied for second place among 10th- to 12th-graders were Cape High students Raven Blakeney, Dylan Brown, Ben Emery, and Daniel Lowe; Adam Izzo of Indian River High School; and Sussex Central's Andrew Evan and Maaz Nasir.

In its 38th year of operation, this year's competition featured 375 teams with a total of 2,057 students participating across the state. Participating students represented 99 schools including 18 of the 19 public school districts and many charter, private and parochial schools, said Denise I. Griffiths, a math league coordinator from Delaware Technical Community College.

Overall, she said, there were 222 teams at the middle school level competing in 12 regions, and 153 teams at the high school level, competing in eight regions. Competition was divided by grade: seventh, eighth, ninth, and grades 10 through 12. Winners include:

Region 11 - seventh grade

Teams - 1^st - Beacon Middle School Gold; 2^nd - Beacon Middle School Blue; Honorable mention - Woodbridge Middle School

Individuals - 1^st - Finbar Rishko, Beacon Middle School; 2^nd - Giovani Benfeldt, Beacon Middle School; 2^nd - John Lee, Beacon Middle School; 2^nd - Jacob Safarik, Beacon Middle School; 2^nd - Morgan Whittam, Beacon Middle School; 2^nd - Stephanie Repp, Woodbridge Middle School; 2^nd - Regan Todd, Woodbridge Middle School; 3^rd - Madeline Betts, Beacon Middle School; 3^rd - Felix Cruz Harmon, Beacon Middle School; 3^rd - Faith Palmer, Beacon Middle School; 3^rd - Savannah Sistrunk, Mariner Middle School; 3^rd - Trey Lodge, Milford Central Academy

Region 11 - eighth grade

Teams - 1st - Beacon Middle School; 2nd - Milford Central Academy

Individuals - 1^st - Kalen Stevenson, Mariner Middle School; 2^nd - Daniel Brown, Beacon Middle School; 3^rd - Connor Hitchens, Mariner Middle School; 3^rd - Shuhong Zheng, Milford Central Academy

Region 8 - 9th grade

Teams - 1^st - Indian River High School; 2^nd - Seaford High School

Individuals - 1^st - Jorge Mendez, Seaford High School; 2^nd - Meghan Patel, Cape Henlopen High School; 3^rd - Anthony Prosachik, Indian River High School

Region 8 - 10th-12th grades

Teams - 1^st - Cape Henlopen High School; 2^nd - Sussex Central High School

Individuals - 1^st - Jason Hickman, Sussex Central High School; 2^nd - Raven Blakeney, Cape Henlopen High School; 2^nd - Dylan Brown, Cape Henlopen High School; 2^nd - Ben Emery, Cape Henlopen High School; 2^nd - Daniel Lowe, Cape Henlopen High School; 2^nd - Adam Izzo, Indian River High School; 2^nd - Andrew Evan, Sussex Central High School; 2^nd - Maaz Nasir, Sussex Central High School; 3^rd - Sarah Buchler, Indian River High School; 3^rd - Karen Goff, Indian River High School; 3^rd - Tin Pham, Seaford High School; 3^rd - Trevor Beachboard, Sussex Central High School.