St. Bonaventure University

Sixty-four students from five area schools participated in the annual Challenge 24 math contest March 21 at St. Bonaventure University.

The contest is hosted each year by SBU’s Mathematics Department, and is directed by Angela Castle, ’08, an adjunct professor at SBU from 2011-2020, and Dr. Christine Uhl, associate professor of Mathematics.

The participating schools included: Hinsdale Central School, Olean Intermediate-Middle School, Cuba-Rushford, Scio Central, and Washington West Elementary in Olean.

Challenge 24 is a game in which contestants are presented with four numbers between 1 and 9. The object is to combine the numbers, using each number exactly once, to produce an answer of 24. Any of the standard arithmetic operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division) may be used as needed, perhaps more than once, to get the result.

Medals and $1,000 scholarships to St. Bonaventure were awarded to the top three places in each grade. 

The winners were:

• Third grade: Gautam Patil (Washington West), first place; Elco de Vries-Jordan (Washington West), second place; Lennon DeLong-Stavisky (Washington West), third place. 
• Fourth grade: Cooper Fee (Hinsdale Central School), first; Allie Pappano (Olean Intermediate MS); Charlie Pezzimenti (Olean Intermediate MS), third.
  
• Fifth grade: Nilaa Saravanan (Olean Intermediate MS), first; Jack Crawford (Olean Intermediate MS), second; Geena Westfall (Olean Intermediate MS), third.
  
• Sixth grade: Irene Young  (Olean Intermediate MS), first; Saurya Tuladhar (Olean Intermediate MS), second; Arvella Simmons (Scio Central), third.
• Seventh grade: Mya Goodling (Hinsdale Central School), first; Kavya Saravanan (Olean Intermediate MS), second; Jaydon Clemons (Olean Intermediate MS), third.
  

For more about the 24 Game and St. Bonaventure’s Challenge 24 Competition, visit www.sbu.edu/challenge24.

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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).