Last Saturday, the UIL Mathematics, Number Sense, and Calculator Applications teams traveled to Palestine and competed in the first practice meet of the season. With one meet under their belts, the UIL math teams now know what they need to improve upon before March.

“I know I could have done way better than I did on Saturday,” senior Sean Haycock said. “I’d be surprised if our coach Mrs. Oldham was happy with my score, because I wasn’t even happy with my score. I would have loved to have made a better score on the test, but at least now I know what I need to work harder on.”

Junior Jose Sanchez and sophomore Bailey Chase competed in both Number Sense and Mathematics, while seniors Sonia Dominguez and Sean Haycock competed in Calculator Applications. Each team was composed of returning members, however, both the Mathematics and Number Sense teams consisted of a new member and a returning member. The returning member went to state in Number Sense last year.

“This is not my first time competing in Number Sense or Mathematics, but it is my first time competing in them while in high school,” Chase said. “I’m not thrilled with how I did on Saturday, but that just means I need to practice more. Also competing with Jose makes me feel confident that our team has the ability to make it to state, because he already has experience with the state level competition.”

Sonia Dominguez brought home second place in Calculator Applications, and Jose Sanchez brought home fourth place in Number Sense. However, everyone can agree there is still a lot to work to be done before the actual UIL meet.

“I was happy that I got second place, but I wasn’t happy with the score I got or the amount of questions I missed,” Dominguez said. “I think our coach was content with our scores but at the same time knew we could’ve done better. I’m nervous about the real event being right around the corner, but I know if I work hard and practice more, that I can advance to regionals.”