Outside temperatures in the high thirties. Even higher temperatures inside the contest venue. The site coordinator passing out. And a visa not delivered on time. These were just some of the surprises encountered by our 30-member Philippine contingent to the 2006 American Regions Mathematics League (ARML) last June 2 and 3, at the University of Las Vegas (UNLV) in Nevada, USA. Despite all of these though, our wards were able to get their act together as they were able to post the country's highest ARML finish ever.

Philippines A ranked 15th out of 81 teams in Division B, finishing 46th over-all out of 113 teams. This is the first time that the country broke the top 50 mark in the over-all standings of this contest. They also finished 6th out of the 15 Division B teams competing in Las Vegas, which was the contest's Western venue. They even finished ahead of the site's proclaimed winner, North Carolina.

Philippines B meanwhile, finished 67th in Division B - a respectable finish, given that this team is composed wholly of ARML newcomers and younger MTG members.

The team leader of this delegation was MTG Vice President Rechilda P. Villame, while the deputy leaders were MTG Office Director Robert J. Degulacion and MTG Dumaguete Center Coordinator Ms. Rosanne Salve.

Six High Scorers

Receiving High Scorer Medals for their respective teams in the individual competition were: Alvin Belleza (4th yr., Ateneo de Manila University), Ramon Inigo Marfil (3rd yr., Philippine Science High School), and Stephanie Anne Oliveros (2nd yr., Philippine Science) for Philippines A; and Geraldine Baniqued (Gr. 7, St. Paul's College, Pasig), Ian Lemuel Dimaandal (2nd yr., Philippine Science), and Tobit James Narciso (2nd yr., Philippine Science) for Philippines B.

Other members of the Philippine contingent to the ARML were: for Philippines A - Minerva Bianca Avecilla (3rd yr., San Beda College, Alabang), Angeline Baniqued (1st yr., St. Paul's, Pasig), Percival Byron Bueser (3rd yr., Manila Science High School), Miguel Isidro Carino (3rd yr., Ateneo de Manila), Davin Carlos Choi (3rd yr., Chiang Kai Shek College), Jeremy Chua Yap (3rd yr., Jubilee Christian Academy), Renard Eric Chua (4th yr., St. Stephen's High School), Virgil Gabriel Garcia (3rd yr., Philippine Science), Chiara Rosario Lanuza (2nd yr., Philippine Science), Ramon Inigo Marfil (3rd yr., Philippine Science), Stephanie Anne Oliveros (2nd yr., Philippine Science), Emmanuel Lance Christopher Plan VI (4th yr., Ateneo de Manila), Claudia Reinibelle So (3rd yr., Philippine Cultural High School), and Augustine Elmar Tejada (4th yr., Ateneo de Manila); and for Philippines B - Kate Luzelle Aba (1st yr., Siliman University), Kim Araya (2nd yr., Ateneo de Naga University), Johanna Lei Bandoy (3rd yr., Siliman University) Daryl Carillo (3rd yr., Tobacco National High School), Aileen Giselle Chua (1st yr., Grace Christian High School), Mariel Dee (2nd yr., St. Paul's, Pasig), Napoleon Pempena (3rd yr., St. Andrew's School), Maria Dominique Rustia (3rd yr., PAREF Woodrose School), Jomo Vitto Simbul (2nd yr., Philippine Science), Jillian Kristel Sy (1st yr., Chiang Kai Shek), Adrian Tolentino (2nd yr., Philippine Science High School), and Jed Ernest Uytiepo (2nd yr., Don Bosco Technical Institute, Victorias.

World Series of math contests

The ARML is an annual high school competition held simultaneously in three venues across the United States. Aside from UNLV, this year's competition was also held in Pennsylvania State University (Eastern venue), and the University of Iowa (Midwest venue). Nicknamed as the "World Series of math contests in America", it pits more than a 100 fifteen-member teams into a gauntlet of challenging math contest formats. The formats used for this contest are the individual, team, power question, relay, and super relay.

North Carolina A emerged as the top team of this year's ARML Division A. Meanwhile, the Colorado Team topped Division B. Division A is composed of teams who have performed well during previous ARML's.

This was the fifth time that the country sent representatives to the ARML, but only the first time that the country sent two teams to this competition. This also marked the first time that the delegation competed in Las Vegas, as the San Jose State University served as the ARML's Eastern venue previously.

Last year's ARML squad placed 44th out of 68 teams in Division B. They also emerged as the winners in the super relay, one of the contest's five formats. However, the super relay is not included in the tallying of scores, and is treated as more of a side event.

Scorching heat

The scorching temperature outside (37C), and the even higher temperature inside (there was no air-conditioning), provided all of the participants tension that the challenging questions were already giving them enough of. It was probably even a little more challenging for our contestants, who were wearing their black MTG "e" shirts during the event.

The temperature was so hot that it even prompted the super relay competition to be called off in the Las Vegas site, meaning the Philippine Team wouldn't be able to defend the crown that they won last year. The awarding ceremonies were even turned into a rather informal one, after changing the venue from the auditorium to the cafeteria. And yes, there was also that incident where the Las Vegas Site Coordinator passed out.

On a nontemperature-related note, an unexpected hurdle that came across the delegation's US trip came when the visa of one of the contestants, Jeremy Chua-Yap, didn't arrive on time for the flight scheduled on May 28. His visa did arrive eventually, and he was able to follow with the rest of the contingent days later, traveling by his lonesome for the first time.

Heyday for foreign teams

Six guest teams participated in this year's ARML, doubling last year's number. Two were from the Philippines, while four from were Taiwan. All six competed in the Las Vegas site. Taiwan was very successful in this year's contest, with three Taiwanese teams placing 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in all of Division B.

For the Las Vegas site, the 2nd to 6th places were actually occupied by foreign teams - the four Taiwanese teams, and then Philippines A. But since all were guest teams, the award for the site winner (given to each venue's top team that didn't rank in the top 4 nationally) got passed down to 7th placer North Carolina. Likewise, the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place awards for Division B got passed down to local teams as well.

Rollercoaster ride

Sandwiching the actual contest for the MTG Kids were visits to popular tourist attractions near their area such as Disneyland, the Hoover Dam, and the magnificient Grand Canyon, making the whole journey very enjoyable for our contestants.

When asked to describe their experience briefly, top scorer Alvin Belleza mentioned that it was "a rollercoaster ride," and that "every minute, there were twists and turns." True enough, it was, as our contestants have been through a lot during their trip to the United States. But even though there were unexpected obstacles hurled towards them, they were still able to get their act together and perform quite well in this competition.

Trained during the summer

The thirty Philippine representatives to the ARML are part of the 2006 MTG Philippine Delegation to International Mathematics Competitions. They qualified by undergoing a year-long search for the country's best young mathematical minds. This summer, these MTG Kids, along with more than a hundred other young Filipino math wizards, were trained in preparation for international math competitions like the ARML. More competitions are lined up for the MTG Kids this year, with destinations such as China, Hong Kong, India, and Indonesia.

The training for these students is headed by MTG President Dr. Simon L. Chua, who is going to be feted this July for his contribution to the field of national mathematics competitions. He is going to become the first Filipino recipient of the Paul Erdos Award during the 5th World Federation of National Mathematics Competitions Conference in Cambridge, UK.

For photos of the MTG Kids' trip to Las Vegas, you could check out their photoblog here.