Herff College of Engineering
Herff hosts more than 100 students for annual MATHCOUNTS competition
Dozens of mathletes came out to the Herff College of Engineering for the region's annual MATHCOUNTS competition on Saturday, February 21.
Mid-South schools brought around 150 students, 20 coaches and 40 volunteers for the competition, despite the event's two-week delay due to the winter storm of January 2026, which caused many of those students to miss weeks of class.
The event marked the first time in more than six years Herff hosted the MATHCOUNTS competition, allowing students in grades 6-8 the opportunity to compete in live contests against and alongside their peers. The day included two rounds of individual testing, one team round and a game-show- or tournament-style "Countdown Round" where the top 16 mathletes went head-to-head.
White Station Middle School (WSMS) won the team competition, followed by Memphis University School (MUS) and West Collierville Middle School (WCMS). Andrew Mao of MUS won the individual competition, with White Station's Esther Zhang and Jaren Feng coming in second and third, respectively.
The WSMS team advances to the state competition, along with Mao, Daniel Hong (WCMS), Anthony Baltz (Gaudium In Veritate Home School) and Dhruv Singh (WSMS), competing individually.