Last April 29, the team of MGC New Life mathletes Rickson Tan, Elliot Albano, and Hans Gamboa from batches Olive and Zion placed third in Sipnayan, a team-based math competition organized by Ateneo de Manila University.
Tan shared, “I was really glad that our team was able to place third and despite the stress of being neck-and-neck of being either third or fourth, overall it was fun to compete in this type of competition once again.”
Gamboa also remarked, “For me, this year's Sipnayan was nerve-wracking, yet exciting at the same time. Nerve-wracking because it came down to the last question to decide whether we would place or not, and exciting because of the unique jeopardy style format that the oral rounds were conducted in, and additional power-ups that spiced up our strategy even more.”
Aside from the third-place finish, many other teams qualified for the Semi-final and Final rounds. Two Junior High School teams made the semifinals: the Grade 10 team of Nathan Hao, Annika Lim, and Annika Chong, as well as the Grade 9 team of Faith Ng, Chloe Ang, and Magnus Cabilangan. As for the grade school students, the teams of Anya Chong, Kate Marie Aquino, and Caitlyn Yu, as well that of Michiko Tiong, Grace Ng, and Kiesha Wang got to the semifinals, while the group of Pierce Takai, Joshua Chiu, and Tyler Uy placed fourth in their bracket.
Sipnayan is an annual math competition held online in three rounds: a written Elimination round, and oral Semi-finals and Finals. For HS students, the Elimination round occurred on April 15, with the following two on April 29. Grade school students participated in a separate bracket, held on April 1.
Each year, Sipnayan comes back with a unique theme, complete with associated powerups to be used throughout the semi-final and final rounds, with this year’s theme being Safari Adventure.