By Anglea Price
For MATHCOUNTS
Charleston— A team of middle school Mathletes® from John Adams Middle School in Charleston took top honors at the Charleston Chapter MATHCOUNTS® Competition held at the University of Charleston on February 21, 2026. The top individual was Eli Hale, an eighth grader from Horace Mann Middle School in Charleston.
Members of the winning team from John Adams Middle School were: Gallagher Kelsch, Vedanshi Pachauri, Nikola Painter, Sanvi Swaroop, and Coach Bridget Ward.
The Second Place team was from Horace Mann Middle School in Charleston. Members of the Horace Mann Middle School team were: Wesley Barner, Michael Forrest, Eli Hale, Delilah Leach, and Coach Amie Moss.
The top two teams will advance to the State Competition to be held in Flatwoods on March 28, 2026. Joining the top two teams at the State Competition will be the following high scoring individuals: Lucie Clark from Williamstown Middle School, Rori Copley from Wayne Middle School, Kaleb Tesema from Horace Mann Middle School, and Anderson Spruce from Horace Mann Middle School.
More than 100,000 students across the U.S. participate each year in the MATHCOUNTS Competition Series, a national math competition that aims to build confidence and problem-solving skills for students who participate. Programs like MATHCOUNTS are critical to preparing students to succeed in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) careers of the future.
The Charleston Chapter program is sponsored by the University of Charleston. Leadership at the local levels of the MATHCOUNTS Competition Series is provided by members of the WV Society of Professional Engineers.
The National Sponsors of MATHCOUNTS Foundation are RTX, U.S. Department of Defense STEM, Northrop Grumman Foundation, the National Society of Professional Engineers, 3Mgives, and Art of Problem Solving. MATHCOUNTS was founded in 1983 by the National Society of Professional Engineers, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and CNA Insurance.
About MATHCOUNTS Foundation:
MATHCOUNTS is a nonprofit organization that strives to engage middle school students of all ability and interest levels in fun, challenging math programs, in order to expand their academic and professional opportunities. Middle school students exist at a critical juncture in which their love for mathematics must be nurtured, or their fear of mathematics must be overcome. For more than 30 years, MATHCOUNTS has provided free, high-quality resources to educators and enriching, extracurricular opportunities to students to lay a foundation for future success. Materials and information are available at www.mathcounts.org. Follow @MATHCOUNTS on Twitter.