Math was cool – at least for a few hours during the MATHCOUNTS Lehigh Valley Regional Competition held at Lower Macungie Middle School Feb. 9.

The Saturday event had a bunch of smart kids out of bed and away from their televisions and social media while being excited about math.

According to Kevin Campbell of the Lehigh Valley Chapter Pennsylvania Society of Professional Engineers, the sponsor of the event, “Math is the foundation to being a good engineer” therefore, he continued, “since engineers make all the good things that make life easier, all engineers go to heaven.”

Springhouse Middle School math students took top honors for the team division.

Brandon Cai, a student at Springhouse, took top individual honors.

Apparently, math smarts run in Cai’s family. According to Francee Fuller with the Lehigh Valley Chapter Pennsylvania Society of Professional Engineers, “His brother, Victor, won the event last year.”

Fuller said Springhouse Middle School also took top overall honors last year. Teacher Kevin Hallman coached the team.

Orefield Middle School math students took a special prize as being the most improved from last year. Teacher Craig Waters is the coach.

Campbell, the competition coordinator, welcomed the participants on behalf of Lehigh Valley Chapter Pennsylvania Society of Professional Engineers.

The Feb. 9 event was the 35th annual competition.

“MATHCOUNTS is a national math coaching and competition program for sixth, seventh and eighth grade student that promotes interest and ability in math by making math excellence as challenging, exciting and prestigious as achievement in sports. MATHCOUNTS has reached more than 4,000,000 students in its 30-year history. It works because it is a partnership of the education, business and technological communities,” according to competition literature.

The winning team advances to the state-level competition in Harrisburg March 15-16. The four highest ranking individuals from the count down round and the two highest-ranking individuals who were not on the winning team will also compete in Harrisburg.

The top students from Pennsylvania will compete for national honors May 11-14 in Orlando, Fla.

Top Six Teams

1. Springhouse Middle School, coached by Kevin Hallman

2. Southern Lehigh Middle School, coached by Ronnette Mays

3. Easton Middle School, coached by Eric and Alex Adams

4. Moravian Academy, coached by Alison Overdorf and Andriana Turcotte

5. Eyer Middle School, coached by Julie Hummell

6. Orefield Middle School, coached by Craig Waters

Top 10 Mathletes

1. Brandon Cai, sixth grade, Springhouse Middle School – also top sixth grader

2. Eric Zhang, eighth grade, Springhouse Middle School

3. Adam Plotka, eighth grade, Eyer Middle School

4. Taha Mirrani, eighth grade, Orefield Middle School

5. Dan Martinez, eighth grade, Pocono Mountain

6. Aditya Singhvi, eighth grade, Orefield Middle School

7. Sophie Wen, eighth grade, Southern Lehigh-also top female Mathlete

8. Armaan Makwana, eighth grade, Easton Area Middle School

9. Alaina Patel, eighth grade, Southern Lehigh School District-also second highest scoring female

10. Eric Welp, eighth grade, Eyer Middle School

Other Awards

Emma Li, eighth grade, third highest scoring female, Easton Area Middle School

Jeffrey Holzbaur, highest scoring seventh grader, Saucon Valley Middle School

Orefield Middle School, most improved team, coached by Craig Waters

St. Jane Frances de Chantel School (Easton), best new team, coached by Margie DiLollo

Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Bethlehem), Honorable Mention, coached by Pat Sabino

Swiftwater Intermediate School, Special Award (nine female competitors; one male), coached by Joy Carsia and Jeff Sottolano

Al Dezubay served as the award presenter on behalf of LVPA Society of Professional Engineers. Dezubay is the vice president of LVPA Society of Professional Engineers.