Vernon Hills High math team takes state trophy

If you're a gambling person, don't bet against these kids.

Vernon Hills High School's mathematics team took first place in Saturday's Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics Division 3AA 2008 state finals held at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.

The 3AA division is for schools with enrollment between 1,000 and 1,999 students.

Vernon Hills High's 26-member team matched wits against 51 other schools to win the state title with 779 points -- a 70-point lead over runner-up University of Illinois Laboratory High School and a 90-point lead over Glenbard South.

"We felt very confident going in," said Josh Brickman, senior and president of the math team. "After testing we were a little nervous because our practice scores were a little higher. There was nothing really to be worried about. We were blowing away the other teams. When they called our name out at the end, we just went nuts."

The 52 teams at the competition represented the cream of the crop that emerged from a March 1 regional round held at 19 locations throughout the state.

Vernon Hills tied for first place with the University of Illinois Laboratory High School in that regional round.

"So we knew that was the team to beat this year," said Cheryl Ballenger, Vernon Hills High School mathematics teacher and head math team coach for the last two years.

It's the first time Vernon Hills has won the 3AA division. The school won first place in the 2A division in 2002, when it first opened.

Two years ago, Vernon Hills High's math team placed seventh in the state in its division. The school was just two points shy of second place in the 2007 state finals.

"Our goal all this year was to win first," Ballenger said. "I think just reaching the goal that we set was just so exciting."

Ballenger said students prepped for the state competition by taking a lot of practice tests solving complicated math problems, working in groups and as individuals.

"We have tryouts (for the state team) so it's stressful," Ballenger said.

Of the roughly 40 students who tried out for Vernon Hills High's team, 26 students from all grade levels competed at the finals.

"They just have to have problem-solving, logical thinking and really excellent math skills," Ballenger said.

The state competition was comprised of 14 team and individual events in areas such as Algebra 1, Algebra 2, geometry, pre-calculus and calculus.

Ballenger said Vernon Hills High students did well in all the events.

"It really is a team effort," she said.

Vernon Hills High School officials are planning an assembly in the team's honor, but a date has not been set.

Two other Lake County high school math teams finished third at Saturday's state finals in their respective divisions -- Lake Forest Academy for Division 1A and Lincolnshire-based Stevenson High School for Division 4AA.

Do the math

Think you're pretty good at math? Test your wits against these questions answered by Vernon Hills High School's math team to grab first place in Saturday's Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics Division 3AA 2008 state finals.

Algebra II (juniors)

How many liters of distilled water should be added to a liter of a 40 percent acid solution to dilute it to a 30 percent acid solution? Express your answer as a common fraction reduced to lowest terms.

Answer: 1/3 of a liter

Precalculus (seniors)

A bag contains exactly six marbles - three red, two white, and one blue. A boy draws a marble at random, replaces the marble, and continues to draw in this fashion. Find the probability that his first three draws were marbles of the same color and that his final two draws were also marbles of the same color, but a different color from the first three marbles.

Answer: 19/648

Calculator team question

A steroid test correctly predicts presence of steroids 98.12 percent of the time, and correctly identifies absence of steroids 95.14 percent of the time. A group of National Collegiate Athletic Association athletes was tested, and 15.08 percent of them tested positive for steroid use. Find the fractional part of athletes that actually used steroids. Express your answer as a decimal.

Answer: 0.1096

Source: Vernon Hills High School math department