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Team USA Heads to China Girls Math Olympiad

Eight American students will participate in the 2012 China Girls Mathematical Olympiad (CGMO) held August 9 – 13 in Guangzhou. The team is sponsored by the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI) and the Mathematical Association of America (MAA).

The China Girls Math Olympiad is an international competition with a proof-based format similar to the International Math Olympiad. Team USA was chosen from the top ranks of the female finalists in the 2012 USA Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO). 

Representing the United States are: 

Cynthia Day, 17, from San Jose, California, is a recent graduate of Lynbrook High School and will be a freshman at Stanford University this fall. She was a medalist at the 2009 and 2010 CGMO.

Courtney Guo, 15, a U.S. citizen and junior at the International School of Beijing in China. 

Laura Pierson, 12, from Oakland, California, is the youngest student to ever compete on the U.S. team, she will be a seventh grader this fall at Hillcrest Middle School.

Gabriella Studt, 15, is from Silver Spring, Maryland, and is a rising junior at Montgomery Blair High School.

Danielle Wang, 15, from Campbell, California, is a sophomore at Westmont High School. She won a gold medal at last year’s CGMO.

Alicia Weng, 15, from West Hills, California, will be a junior at North Hollywood High School.

Victoria Xia, 16, from Vienna, Virginia, won a gold medal last year and will be a junior at the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.

Jingyi Zhao, 15, from Culver, Indiana, will be a junior this fall at Culver Academies.

The team coach is Zuming Feng, a math teacher on the faculty of Phillips Exeter Academy, the leader of the USA International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) team, and the director of the Mathematical Olympiad Summer Program (MOSP) since 2003. Returning as the team’s assistant coaches are Jennifer Iglesias and Sherry Gong. Both assistant coaches won gold medals in past CGMOs, Iglesias in 2008 and Gong in 2007, where she tied for first place in the overall standings.

The U.S. team has consistently earned medals since its debut at the CGMO in the summer of 2007. Last year, all eight girls on the 2011 U.S. team won medals (two gold medals, one silver medal, and five bronze medals). In 2010, the team placed second in the overall standings—among 48 teams from ten countries—and in 2008 and 2009, every member of the U.S. team medaled at the Olympiad.

Founded in 2002, the CGMO began as a regional competition for teams of female students from China and other eastern Asian countries (including Russia). It was later expanded to invite teams from more countries, including the United States, Canada, South Africa, United Kingdom, and Australia among the invitees.

Source: MSRI

 

Id: 
1344
Start Date: 
Wednesday, August 8, 2012