FLORENCE, S.C. – Wilson High School, Dillon High School and The Byrnes Schools took top honors at the Pee Dee Regional High School Mathematics Tournament. The tournament, sponsored by the Pee Dee Education Center and Francis Marion University, was held in the university’s McNair Science Building auditorium.

    The 29th-annual event featured more than 240 students from 16 area schools.

    Participating schools were divided into Division I, Division II and Division III schools. Schools with A and AA athletic classifications were considered Division I, while AAA and AAAA athletic classifications were considered Division II. This was the first year there has been a Division III, which consists of private schools in the Pee Dee.

    High schools participating included: Creek Bridge, Dillon, Hannah-Pamplico, Hemingway Johnsonville, Kingstree, Manning, Marion and Mullins in Division I; Hartsville, Mayo High School for Math, Science and Technology, West Florence and Wilson in Division II; and The Byrnes School and Trinity Collegiate School in Division III.

    All students participated in a one-hour, 16-question, written competition during the morning portion of the tournament. Hui Lin and Ray Tsai of Wilson shared top honors with the highest individual results on the exam. Tsung-Han Tsai of Wilson was second and Justin Chen also of Wilson was third. Receiving honorable mention recognition were Shang-lin Chung and Amit Om of Wilson High School, Matt Geddings of The Byrnes Schools, George Cameron Dodge and Tom Sitti of Trinity Collegiate School, and Michael Kucek of West Florence High School.

    The top four individual test scores from each school were combined to create a team score. The four schools in each division with the highest team score qualified for the afternoon finals.

    In Division I, Dillon High School won its fifth overall team title by defeating Mullins High School (second). The four individuals representing Dillon in the finals were Josh Hinson, Amy Jones, C’Arra Lampley, and Bennett Lewis. Teresa Proctor serves as the adviser for the Dillon math team.

    Among Division II schools, Wilson captured its fourth overall team title. West Florence High School placed second, followed by Hartsville High School. Representing Wilson in the afternoon finals were Justin Chen, Hui Lin, Ray Tsai, and Tsung-Han Tsai. Dorothy Fleck serves as the adviser for the Wilson math team.

    The Byrnes Schools took home the Division III title with Trinity Collegiate School coming in a close second. Representing The Byrnes Schools in the afternoon finals were Matt Geddings, Lucien Lapierre, Jake Northup and Arpita Patel. Winston Kohler serves as the adviser for the Byrnes math team.

Maigen Bethea, Alex Branham, Tyler Ford, Josh Hinson, Ryan Huggins, Amy Jones, C’Arra Lampley, Megan Lee, Bennett Lewis, Brittany McLeod

Dominique Adams, Justin Chen, Shang-lin (Sunny) Chung, Kevin Cielo, Edward Collins, David Dong, Ismael Hernandez-Cruz, Timothy Jiang, Benjamin Johnson, Jasper Lee, Hui Lin, Mira Narayan, Amit Om, Brad Orr, Sorin Pirau, Josh Railey, Tsung-han (John) Tsai, Tsung-yu (Joy) Tsai, Tsung-Jui (Ray) Tsai, Brandon Washington, Lintu Ramachandran

The Byrnes Schools Math Team:

Bence Bays, Jill Brunson, Meagan Cowles, Matt Geddings, David Hornung, Lucien Lapierre, Jake Northup, Arpita Patel, Mary Patrick, Candace Rath