While legendary programs like the Robotics Club, Film Festival, and Drama Club often make more headlines, the Walpole High School Math Team has positioned itself this year as one of the most successful extracurricular activities Walpole High School has running. On the verge of going to the playoffs for the third year in a row, and including of two of the top-scoring students in their entire league, the team has been performing very well during the past few monthly meets, continuing on their successes started a few years ago.
The team currently has 17 students, with students from each grade in the school. Team Coach and Mathematics Teacher Kathleen Milne noted that only six of the team members this year were also on the team last year, but the nine new members quickly grew comfortable with the work the team had to do. The team’s tremendous performance this year, according to Milne, can be attributed to the group’s strong work ethic and passion for helping the team. “Team members are good about submitting problem sets on time and showing up at team meetings even on a Friday afternoon,” Milne said. Many of the team members have scheduling conflicts, especially with Robotics events, but the students always do their best to participate in team meetings and attend meets even with those conflicts. “We have not had difficulty getting ten team members for a meet,” Milne said. Senior Tim Markatos, a member of the team, said teamwork between members has been excellent. “We’ve done well on all the team rounds,” Markatos said.
Senior Josh Cofsky is the top scorer out of all seniors in the 31-team Massachusetts Assocation of Mathematics Leagues (MAML), having earned 52 out of 54 points after just three meets. Senior Stephanie Ng, meanwhile, is in third place. Any individual student has the option to go to the playoffs alone if they are the highest scorers in the league division, a feat that Walpole has never accomplished during the twenty years that Milne has been coaching the team. Both Cofsky and Ng have been members of the team since freshman year, and have consistently performed well at meets throughout the years. “I am very proud of both of them,” Milne said. But while Cofsky and Ng are undoubtedly some of the best mathematicians on the team, they are not the only top scorers. “Every meet we have had individuals who were recognized as high scorers,” Milne said.
The team’s excellent performance this year is impressive given the intense competition in their division. The top two teams in the entire league, Sharon and Dover-Sherborn, are both in their division, which offers extreme challenges to Walpole to make it into the playoffs. Walpole is currently in sixth place in the league, only 12 points ahead of division rival Medway. But with the top nine teams in the league allowed to go on to the playoffs in March, Walpole appears to be in a good position to compete in the playoffs.
Besides having to contend with Sharon and Dover-Sherborn, Walpole has also had to cope with changes in the way the league is organized. The league structure has changed over the years, making it inherently harder for Walpole to get to the playoffs since the team’s heyday in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Divisions are organized geographically, and the six division winners automatically receive a playoff spot while three other spots are made available to other teams among the various divisions. When Milne first started coaching the team, there were only four divisions and fewer teams so the route to the playoffs for teams that were only moderately good, like Walpole, was easier. But the greater number of teams and divisions that have been added during the past ten years has afforded little opportunity for Walpole to advance to the playoffs. For many years, the team consistently placed just beyond the cutoff needed to make it to the playoffs.
But the team’s fortunes began changing in 2009. The team made it to the playoffs for the first time in years, and qualified for the MAML tournament for the first time since 1997, a tremendous accomplishment. The team ended the 2009 season with the best record in their history, finishing 4th out of 32 teams. Last year, the team continued their winning ways and was the third-highest scoring team in the league, finishing the regular season in 4th place again. Besides ranking second in their division, the team then placed third at the playoffs. Further, they placed eighth out of twelve teams in the medium school division at the tournament, and outscored Sharon. Walpole earned a higher score at the tournament than all of the other teams representing their league. Cofsky, junior Amy Lynn Rockwood, and 2010 graduate John Gillespie finished the regular season in the top five for their respective grade levels.
This year, the team appears to be once again going to the playoffs. Senior team member Tim Markatos said the team would “probably” get to the playoffs, and predicted a third place finish in the February meet. “I am optimistic that the team will qualify for the playoffs,” Milne said.
Whether or not the team does indeed make it to the playoffs, the Walpole High Math Team has most certainly made a name for itself and is quickly becoming a powerhouse. During a year when Walpole has been performing well in sports and other reputable extracurricular activities, the success of the team complements Walpole High School’s wide range of activities perfectly.
