The Blue Earth Area Math League Team qualified for State. Pictured above are members of the team, bottom row, left to right, Gunnar Schultze, Seth Mathews, Vern Johnson, Aaron Lorenz, Marissa Benz, Lilah Farrow. Middle row, left to right, Connor Espeland, Calvin Farrow, Nick Frundt, Brady Lorenz, Manav Chadhari. Top row, left to right, Aidan Johnson, Seth Stevermer, Calli Ferguson, Kylie Rosenau, Lauren Bleess.

Things really added up for the Blue Earth Area Math League team at their final regular season meet on Tuesday, Feb. 15.

“The BEA team qualified for their first-ever State Meet,” team advisor Tom Plocker shared. “It was an exciting come-from-behind victory. And, Calvin Farrow won both the Section and Division individual championships.”

BEA needed to get three questions correct in the team event to overtake rival Luverne.

“We were locked in a “winner takes Section” battle with Luverne,” Plocker explained. “Despite consistent scoring in the individual events, our kids found themselves behind the Cardinals by 11 points going into the team test. So, we needed to answer at least three of the six final questions correctly to pull out a victory.”

Plocker gives a play-by-play of the scene.

“After 30 minutes of feverish problem solving, team member Lauren Bleess entered the answers and everyone gazed at the flatscreen as the results were displayed,” Plocker said. “BEA tallied four correct answers for 16 points and grabbed the Section title!”

The team also placed third in the Division, which is also the best in school history.

The Section Meet results found BEA in first place with 50 points followed by Luverne with 45. Shattuck-St. Mary’s was third with 29.

Results for the season in the Section showed the Bucs on top with 287 points. Luverne was second with 275, Shattuck-St. Mary’s was third with 197, Fairmont took fourth with 129, Tri-City United placed fifth with 123 and Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial was sixth with 97.

Mankato West placed first in the Division with 55 points with Minnesota Valley Lutheran grabbing second with 52 points. BEA was third with 50 points in the eight-team competition.

Farrow’s season total of 48 points was not only good enough for the Section and Division championships, he also set a BEA school record.

Kylie Rosenau finished the year in second place in the Section individual rankings.

Three other Bucs had top 20 finishes individually for the year in the Section competition. They were Vern Johnson (16th), Bleess and Aaron Lorenz (tied for 19th).

The Minnesota State Math League meet will be held on Monday, March 14, at South St. Paul high School.