St. Bonaventure University hosted the regional phase of the 2026 MATHCOUNTS competition, a national contest for sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students, Saturday, Feb. 14.

Contestants worked both individually and in four-person school teams on questions designed by the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE), the main sponsoring organization.

Students participated from the following schools (with their coaches): Allegany-Limestone Middle School (Kathy Stamets), Holy Family Learning Center (Garett Farrugia), St. Stephen School (Elena Nikolaeva), Casey Middle School, Clarence Middle School, Mill Middle School, Drabold Academy, and Transit Middle School (Finn Goehrig).  

The top school team and the top individuals received trophies. The top individuals also received scholarships to St. Bonaventure. The teams have been invited to the New York state competition to be held March 14 in Saratoga Springs, New York. The top individuals from the state contest will advance to the national competition in May.

The top individuals were: first place, Shuang Chen of Transit Middle School; second place, Chuck Hu of Transit Middle School; and third place, Adhrit Chowdhury of Transit Middle School.

Transit Middle School had the top team composed of students Shuang Chen, Chuck Hu, Olivia Seo and Duoxuan Yuan. The second-place team was Holy Family Learning Center, whose members were Shea Clark, Robert Farrugia, Charles Peach and John Peach. The third-place team was Allegany-Limestone Middle School, composed of students Jensen Haseley, Lilly Mascioni, Kornelius Nothem-Kettler and Sadie Smith.

In addition to NSPE, other organizations providing financial support for the contest at the national level include BAE Systems, Bentley, Carina, Texas Instruments, NCEES, CNA Foundation, Aerospace, DoDSTEM, RTX, Northrup Grumman Foundation, Lockheed Martin, NSPE, 3M Foundation, and Art of Problem Solving. Locally, the contest was financially supported by St. Bonaventure and an anonymous grant.        

______________

About the University: The nation’s first Franciscan university, St. Bonaventure is a community committed to transforming the lives of its students inside and outside the classroom, inspiring in them a commitment to academic excellence and lifelong civic engagement. Out of 167 regional universities in the North, St. Bonaventure was ranked #8 for value and #19 overall by U.S. News and World Report (2025).