TORII STATION, Okinawa, Japan — A team of four middle school Mathletes ® from Yokota Middle School, Yokota, Japan won the DoDDS Pacific/DDESS Guam MATHCOUNTS Chapter competition. The top individual was Michael Sanders from Yokota Middle School on Yokota AB in Japan .  

Members of the winning team are: Nick Farrar, Sam Hatfield, David Koster, and Michael Sanders. The team is coached by Melissa Carpenter. The second place team is Seoul American Middle School from Seoul , Korea . The members, coached by Hai Cho, are: Esther Ahn, Joanna Anderson, Robert Darby, and John Richardson. Kadena Middle School , coached by Rick Stanford, came in third. The members are: Neal Ball, Phillip Bowers, Owen Caison, and Sarah Orpurt. The second and third place individual leaders were, respectively, David Koster from Yokota Middle School and Robert Darby from Seoul Middle School . The top two teams will advance to the DoD Education Activity State Competition, to be held at the end of March.

The competition consists or three official rounds: Sprint with 30 problems, Target with 8 problems, and Team with 10 problems. Celebrating its 22nd Anniversary, MATHCOUNTS is a nationwide math coaching and competition program designed to improve math skills among U.S. students. Over six million students across the U.S. have participated in the MATHCOUNTS program.

“The results demonstrate that quality instruction, rigorous and challenging curriculum and great teachers are factors that ensure our students in the Pacific have a competitive edge,” said Dr. Steve Bloom, Deputy Director DoDDS-Pacific/DDESS-Guam.