AUGUSTA — Maine School of Science and Mathematics once again earned first place in the 43rd annual Maine State Math Meet for Maine Association of Math Leagues held on April 2.

The team scored 846 points out of a possible 920 and had nine students earning medals. MSSM junior James Hawkes, of Portland, was recognized as top scorer in the state during the regular season. Hawkes said this year was, “filled with difficult questions. I appreciate the time and effort put in by the math teachers, who provided us with practice and taught us what we needed to know for each meet,” according to a news release from the Maine School of Science and Mathematics in Limestone.

Ethan Winters, of Gardiner, and Hawkes earned all possible 72 points resulting in gold medals for seniors and juniors, respectively.

Other seniors to medal were Sandy Kweon, of the Republic of South Korea, in fifth place and George Johnson, of Kennebunk, in 11th. Minjin Lee, of the Republic of South Korea, earned a silver; Jordan Theriault, of Caribou, a bronze; Christian Chagnon, of Eliot, fourth; and Oleksii Nikanov, of Ukraine, tied for fifth. Madison Albert, of North Yarmouth, the only sophomore on the team, earned a silver in her grade category.

According to the release, in Part One, Individual Round, all students do the same six sets of math problems and scores are tallied individually and summed for the team. Ten students compete for up to 72 points each for a maximum score of 720 with MSSM scoring 667 points. In Part Two, Relay Round, each school is split into two teams and complete problems dependent on the other half of the team to provide a partial answer. MSSM earned an 87 out of 100 possible points in the Relay Round. In Part Three, Team Round, there are two rounds with 8 questions and a possible score of 50 points per round. MSSM scored a 92 out of possible 100 points.

The next step for the team will be by invitation to compete in the American Regions Mathematics League. ARML is a mathematics competition simultaneously held at four locations around the United States. MSSM will join students who excel in mathematics from high schools in the State of Maine from May 30 to June 2 at Penn State, while other teams compete at the University of Las Vegas, University of Iowa, and University of Georgia.