Seahawk math team takes first place

Champs again! The first-place Boothbay Region Seahawk math team. From left with school grade: Kora McKenney (10), Abby Orchard (10), Jackson Zehm (8), Chase Mansfield (11), Hannah Hills (11), Ronan Drage (9), Sarah Harris (10), Hannah Kreft (10), Suzie Edwards (12) holding the trophy, Duncan Hardwick (12), Maddie Andreasen (10), Casey Phelps (9), Sawyer Blake (11). Courtesy of Peter Gilchrist

Peter Gilchrist

In convincing fashion, the Boothbay Region Seahawk math team won top honors in their division at the Central Maine Math League championship  meet at Cony High School in Augusta.  The meet took place in the Cony gym on March 6 and included 22 central Maine high schools, of which eight are in the small school division. 

The top five small schools, with the points accumulated during the ’23-’24 season – Boothbay Region 697; Mountain View 555; Carrabec 496; Winthrop 378; Hall-Dale 376.

The remaining schools in the division this season are Monmouth, Searsport, and Madison.  Lincoln Academy won the medium school division and Camden Hills won the large school division. 

This was Boothbay’s third first-place finish in the last five years. Last year the team finished second to Carrabec, Boothbay was first followed by Carrabec in ’21-’22 and ’20-’21, and Carrabec was first followed by Boothbay in ’19-’20.  It has been a spirited and highly competitive rivalry all these years. 

The Seahawk team competing at the meet included – 8th grader: Jackson Zehm; 9th graders: Ronan Drage and Casey Phelps; 10th graders: Maddie Andreasen, Sarah Harris, Hannah Kreft, Abby Orchard and Kora McKenney; 11th graders: Sawyer Blake, Hannah Hills and Chase Mansfield; 12th graders: Suzie Edwards and Duncan Hardwick. 

Two Boothbay students also won personal awards for their individual performance during the season among all the students in the league in their respective grades in school. With over 2,000 students in their classes, finishing near the top is a huge accomplishment. Freshman Ronan Drage was the 5th best scorer among all the 9th grade students and sophomore Abby Orchard was the 6th highest scorer among all the 10th grade students.   

For the entire season, Abby Orchard was the team’s highest scoring individual, followed by Duncan Hardwick, Suzie Edwards, Sawyer Blake, Ronan Drage, Sarah Harris, Hannah Hills, Hannah Kreft, Chase Mansfield and Maddie Andreason. 

However, all students contributed to the team’s points and were instrumental in its success. Coaches Peter and Nancy Gilchrist, who have been involved with the BRHS math team for over 30 years, said emphatically this was the most-balanced team they have ever coached. “When only a couple of students get a question correct, there has been no way to predict who those students are,” said the Gilchrists. “It could be, and often is, students you would least expect.” 

The BRHS math season begins in September and lasts until early April. There are two remaining meets this year – the Mountain Valley math meet March 20 at Spruce Mountain High School in Jay, and the Maine State math meet at the Augusta Civic Center on April 2. The team has high hopes for both of these meets. 

During the season, the math team practices or has a meet every Wednesday. These students devote what could have been free time or homework time throughout the year to be part of the team. And their dedication has resulted in representing the school well enough over the decades to line Mr. Powell’s math classroom with trophies running the length of the walls. 

The purposes of the math team at BRHS are to supplement and augment the mathematical instruction at the school and to have fun doing so. Most practices conclude with trivia contests in fields that run the gamut of human experience, from history to pop music to geography to current events to world capitals to word puzzles to foods (Do you know what two vegetables/fruits are in the display panels outside Hannaford’s main entrance?). And all meets and practices include a baked-from-scratch treat made by Nancy Gilchrist. 

The coaches wanted to thank their students for the efforts, to thank the teaching staff for their superior preparation of our students, to thank the administration and community for their support, and to thank the parents for raising such fine individuals who are so fun and rewarding to coach.