As fall slowly gives way to winter, the Herrin Math Team begins to get under way. The Team started off the new season strong by placing first at the SWIC Math Contest, beating Highland, Mascoutah, and Triad for the top spot after four separate competitions. It’s hoped that such an impressive early victory signifies the beginning of a good year, and the prospect of winning regionals and placing in one of the top spots at the state competition seems to be an attainable goal for many on the team.

“I’m hoping to get into the top ten at state this year,” said senior math team member Kaitlyn Smith.  Smith also added that “the freshman did really well this year at SWIC,” a sentiment echoed by freshman member Alyssa Stallman, who believes that “we have a really good freshman team this year.”  Fellow math team member and senior Corbin Preston agreed, optimistically asserting, “We’re gonna win regionals.”

History backs up his claim—the Herrin High School Math Team has won regionals for the past five consecutive years. However, the real challenge for the team seems to be coming from the state competition, which will occur at the University of Illinois campus in Champaign this spring. Last year at state, the team suffered a few disappointing setbacks which ultimately led to it missing the tenth spot by just a few points.

“Last year was a bit disappointing, but I really think we’ll be able to do better this year. I really think we can make a better effort,” said Alexis Stallman, another senior team member, when asked about the team’s prospects in the state competition. The confident tone seemed to be prevalent throughout the team, with junior member Gabriel Jones only somewhat jokingly saying, “I think we’re going to do better than last year. Top five. The juniors have learned a lot, we’ll continue to learn, and we’ll probably do great.”

The team still has several other contests to compete in first before getting to state though, including SIU’s Math Field Day and the annual regional competition. But hopes are high for this year’s season, and with a championship win at the SWIC conference already in the bag, the team seems to be feeling pretty confident about the coming season. However, it was perhaps Gabriel Jones who summed up the team’s feelings best when asked about her thoughts on the team’s prospects for state this year with the words,  “We’re. Gonna. Sweep.”