WASHINGTON, May 14, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- For the first
time in the competition's 35-year history, a teen
Mathlete® won the Raytheon MATHCOUNTS National
Championship for the second year in a row. Luke Robitaille, a 14-year-old homeschooled
eighth grader from Euless, Texas,
is the 2018 Raytheon MATHCOUNTS National Champion, following an
intense, elite competition at the Renaissance Washington, D.C. Downtown Hotel.
Luke Robitaille won the final
round of the 2018 Raytheon MATHCOUNTS National Competition by
answering the question: "The first three terms of an infinite
arithmetic sequence are 3.46, 2.47 and 1.48, in that order. What is
the first integer term in this sequence?" during the Countdown
Round, in which the top 12 Mathletes® competed in
head-to-head matchups. He gave the correct answer, -50, in 14.55
seconds. As National Champion, Luke
Robitaille is the recipient of the $20,000 Donald G. Weinert College Scholarship and
a trip to U.S. Space Camp.
For the second year in a row, Luke
Robitaille was the top-ranked competitor going into the
Countdown Round, based on his written test scores. Robitaille
competed head-to-head again this year against Texas teammate eighth grader Andrew Cai, age 14, of Quail Valley Middle
School in Sugar Land, Texas, who
was the Countdown Round Runner-Up. The semifinalists were:
Daniel Yuan an 8th grader
from North Potomac, Md., and
Daniel Xia, an 8th grader
from Basking Ridge, N.J.
In the team competition, Texas
captured the title of First Place Team for the third consecutive
year. Team members include Andrew
Cai, Jacob David, Rithvik
Ganesh and Luke Robitaille. The
California state team took second
place, and the New Jersey team placed third.
This is the tenth year that Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) has
served as title sponsor as part of its global commitment to
science, technology, engineering and math education. To continue
developing the next generation of technology innovators and math
professionals, Raytheon will extend its sponsorship of this elite
Mathlete competition until 2025.
"This competition plays a vital role in getting middle school
students excited about math, and interested in becoming the next
generation of scientists and engineers," said Raytheon Chairman and
CEO Tom Kennedy. "They are our
future. The passion, enthusiasm and mastery demonstrated by all
these competitors is truly inspiring. This is why Raytheon is proud
to continue sponsoring the MATHCOUNTS National Competition through
2025 – because we believe in these young people, and we look
forward to watching them solve the challenges of tomorrow, such as
those in robotics, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity."
Luke Robitaille was among 224
competitors from all 50 states, plus U.S. territories and schools
that serve the U.S. State and Defense departments who traveled to
the nation's capital after earning a spot in the national
competition. More than 100,000 students participated in the local
and state competitions that led to this weekend's event. This
year's competition was the 35th in the MATHCOUNTS Foundation's
history.
"Our national competitors prove just how far students can go
when they have the right opportunities in math and put in the
effort to make the most of them," said Kristen Chandler, executive director of
MATHCOUNTS. "Luke's success was the result of talent and tremendous
hard work, and we are thrilled he is our first two-time National
Champion."
About MATHCOUNTS Foundation
MATHCOUNTS is a
nonprofit organization that strives to engage middle school
students of all ability and interest levels in fun, challenging
math programs, in order to expand their academic and professional
opportunities. Middle school students exist at a critical juncture
in which their love for mathematics must be nurtured, or their fear
of mathematics must be overcome. For more than 30 years, MATHCOUNTS
has provided free, high-quality resources to educators and
enriching, extracurricular opportunities to students to lay a
foundation for future success. Materials and information are
available at www.mathcounts.org.
About Raytheon
Raytheon Company, with 2017
sales of $25 billion and 64,000 employees, is a
technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, civil
government and cybersecurity solutions. With a history of
innovation spanning 96 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art
electronics, mission systems integration, C5I™ products and
services, sensing, effects, and mission support for customers in
more than 80 countries. Raytheon is headquartered
in Waltham, Massachusetts. Follow
us on Twitter.
www.raytheon.com
Media Contacts
MATHCOUNTS
Amanda Naar
amanda@mathcounts.org
+1.703.299.9006
Raytheon Company
Brandie
Gerrish
+1.781.522.5193
corporatepr@raytheon.com
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