Florida Last Brought Home the National Championship in 1986, 38 Years Ago
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (May 14, 2024) – Benjamin (Ben) Jiang, a 14-year-old eighth grader from Osprey, Florida, won the MATHCOUNTS® National Championship following an intense, elite competition yesterday in Washington, D.C. Jiang solved his way to victory over 223 competitors, including the 2023 National Champion. As the 2024 National Champion, Jiang will receive the $20,000 Donald G. Weinert College Scholarship.
Jiang squared off against his opponents in the final round of the 2024 RTX MATHCOUNTS National Competition by answering the question: “Kat finds the square root of n, and then she divides it by ten. If she gets seven point four, and not a bit more, then what was the value of n?” during the Countdown Round, in which the top 12 Mathletes® in the country competed in head-to-head matchups. He calculated the correct answer, 5476, in just 16 seconds.
The Florida MATHCOUNTS team was comprised of four students and was coached by Jessica Merrick of Ransom Everglades School. The Florida team placed an impressive fifth place out of 56 states, U.S. territories and schools that serve the U.S. State and Defense departments.
Representing Florida at the national MATHCOUNTS competition were:
- Benjamin Jiang, Pine View School, Osprey
- George Paret, Abraham Lincoln Middle School, Gainesville
- Daniel Li, Ransom Everglades Middle School, Miami
- Daniel Wei, Abraham Lincoln Middle School, Gainesville
“Florida has not had a MATHCOUNTS national champion since 1986, and this is truly an impressive victory for Ben Jiang and the Sunshine State,” said Jamie Graham, PE, and a member of the Florida Engineering Society which sponsors the Florida MATHCOUNTS competition. “Congratulations to Ben and the entire Florida team for their accomplishments.”
The Florida Engineering Society has been a long-time sponsor of the Florida MATHCOUNTS competition as part of its ongoing efforts to nurture STEM education and Florida’s future engineers.
