From staff reports:

The Thomas Jefferson High School math team took ninth place at the recent 2011 Fall Startup Event, a competition administered by National Assessment and Testing.

According to the National Assessment and Testing, this competition had students working “furiously for 30 minutes, racing to answer 100 problems in a variety of mathematical topics.”

Students must “have strong mathematical skills,” and they must also be able to “quickly decide which problems to solve and which problems to skip” when taking the test.

Coached by Tom Norris, the TJ math team had a number of individual winners, which led to their overall ninth place finish. Among the strong individual showings were Daniel Kim, Erik Kim and Paul Jaquish. Daniel Kim placed 18th in the 9th-grade division, while Erik Kim and Jaquish tied for 18th place in the 11th-grade division. In the 12th-grade division, Chloe Choe placed 12th, Edwin Park found his way to 21st, and Julia Yun finished 24th.

The TJ math team hopes to continue its success in National Assessment and Testing’s upcoming competitions, which include a Team Scramble on Nov. 3 and the Ciphering Time Trials on Dec. 8.

For more information on National Assessment and Testing, visit www.natassessment.com.