This is a year of renewal for Huntley High School’s math team.  With the program’s “founding fathers” graduating in 2013 and math teacher Brian Thornley beginning his first year as a coach, the team was ready to write its own history.

And it succeeded, taking first in the Fox Valley Conference’s math competition Wednesday night.  The team finished third in the Alegbra 1 competition, first in the Algebra 2 competition, second in the Pre-Calculus competition, first in the Junior-Senior Eight-Person competition, first in the Freshman-Sophomore Two-Person competition, second in the Junior-Senior Two-Person competition, and second in the Calculator competition.  Sophomore Polina Poznyak finished third individually in Geometry while junior Roshni Bhatt finished fourth in Algebra 2.

“It feels really awesome to be in first place,” said coach Laura Jenkins.  “It’s really special for me because this senior class has been with us since they were freshmen.”

For the past two years, the team has never finished first in a competition.  Finishing second has become very common for the team, so winning a competition was a welcome change.

“There was a lot of stiff competition today,” said senior Math Team member Ricky Witt.  “I felt like we were really struggling for a moment, but as a team, we were able to pull through, and we really showed them who the true mathletes are in the Fox Valley Conference.”

In the wake of the team’s huge success in the Fox Valley Conference competition, it will perhaps face its biggest challenge this Saturday at its competition at Hononegah High School.  The team finished second to Hononegah last year and hopes to improve its performance this year.

The Hononegah competition may also be a precursor to the team’s ability to compete in its regional competition.  Hononegah took first in the regional last year and Huntley is looking to take first this year.

The team’s success Wednesday night may signal a bright future, but only time will tell if Huntley can take down its biggest rival.