College of the Canyons received the second highest team score in the nation for the American Association of Two-Year Colleges Student Mathematics League Test, which is a two-round competition that tests the problem-solving skills of students against others across the nation.

Of the 29 COC students who competed, the cumulative scores of Praneel Samal/first place, Roman Yakunin/second place, Melquicedec Avila-Cruz/third place, Zhiyuan He, and Osmaan Mysorewala placed the college on the scoreboard with 66.5 points ahead of 51 other teams.

“This is a tremendous achievement that speaks volumes about our motivated and talented students,” said Charlie Johnson, chair of the college’s mathematics department. “It is a culmination of years of hard work and dedication. I would like to thank Ruzanna Baytaryan, Jim Gilmore, Violeta Kovacev-Nikolic for their continued support and for organizing the exam at COC every year since 2002.”

During the one-hour AMATYC exam, students individually take a 20-question multiple choice exam which contains nonstandard challenging math questions. Students compete both as individuals and as a member of a team representing their school.

To help prepare students for the rigorous exam, faculty are allowed to hold practice sessions with the use of questions from previous competitions.

The school’s top five winners will receive a AMATYC Certificate of Merit at the end of the academic year. The top three winners at COC share a $200 prize, and the student who earns the highest score in the nation gets a $3,000 Charles Miller memorial scholarship prize to be used to continue his or her education at an accredited four-year institution.

The first round of the AMATYC exam was held at COC on Nov. 5. The second round will be held at the college on March 4.

Established in 1974, AMATYC strives to be the leading voice and resource for excellence in mathematics education in the first two years of college. The association aims to provide high-quality professional development and create communities of learners for all involved in mathematics education at two-year colleges.