Jelisa Holmquist, 16, achieved a perfect score in less time than 603 of her peers from 25 schools around the state taking the trigonometry test called Trig-Star.

A Flathead High School sophomore at the time of the May 11 test, Holmquist clinched the first-place state win in 38 minutes 8 seconds. In Trig-Star, the name of the game is getting the most answers right in the least amount of time.

Students were given difficult surveying problems to solve in under an hour. Glacier High School junior Silas Schwarz, who also had a perfect score, placed second at state. They were the only students in Montana to get perfect scores.

While the first three problems may be solved in a matter of a few steps, the fourth problem can involve dozens of steps.

Holmquist’s strategy going into the state test was to finish the first three questions as fast as she could so that she had time to work on the fourth question, which some test takers — including past state winners — haven’t always completed.

This was her second time participating in Trig-Star. During her freshman year, she took first place in the schoolwide test. At the chapter level, which usually includes Glacier, Columbia Falls and Whitefish high schools, she placed fourth with a score of 92 percent.

After being beat out for third place Holmquist set and surpassed her goal to win state during her junior year. Ahead of schedule, she doesn’t want to wait until senior year to bring home a national win.

“I can’t believe I have the chance to do that now,” Holmquist said during an interview Thursday, the day before she would take the national test. For the state win, Holmquist received $500 and a $1,250 scholarship.

Holmquist said the first three questions in the state test are routine and simple.

“The first three questions are always the same — just different numbers to plug in,” Holmquist said. “The first three questions give you multiple things to find in chronological order,” Holmquist explained.

To prepare, she has practiced taking tests from previous years, timing herself to get a competitive edge in speed with those first few questions.

“The fastest I’ve done is 4 minutes 48 seconds and that was a few days before taking the local test,” Holmquist said, making a small fist pump into the air. “I’ve been timing myself a bunch.”

The fourth question is always different, Holmquist said, with layers of problem-solving. It is a practical application, a problem a surveyor might encounter in his or her job.

“You figure it out by building your own equations,” Holmquist said. “You have to figure out lengths and angles and where points are,” Holmquist said. “I welcome a good challenge and I love solving things that everyone can’t.”

Holmquist has excelled at math since she was in first grade. For the majority of her elementary and middle school years, Holmquist studied math above grade level. Yet she learned a big lesson along the way.

“In seventh grade for the first semester I was looking at the eighth-grade book. By second semester the teacher asked if I felt good with Algebra 1. I said yes, why not, but I failed Algebra 1 that semester because I didn’t pay attention [thinking] I’m really good at math and didn’t really care.”

Holmquist reflected on failing math, a subject that was “her thing.”

“I thought, that’s sort of terrible. So, in eighth grade I did retake Algebra 1 and did much better,” Holmquist said.

Even though algebra is not her strong suit as much as other types of math, she’s willing to work at it.

“I like knowing things. I always want to have things figured out,” Holmquist said.

While Holmquist is very confident in her mathematical abilities to win at the national level — “I’m very competitive” — she tried to quell her excitement, not wanting to appear overly confident.

“But I really want it to happen,” Holmquist said with a smile. “I like being the best. If I put in the effort I can be the best.”

And she has definitely put in the effort rather than just resting on her math whiz laurels, as her freshman-year honors geometry teacher Dan Burfeind can attest to.

“We went over problems two days in class and I said to the class if you’re interested in doing more, come talk to me,” Burfeind said, noting this was around the time before spring break. “She spent all of spring break practicing tests. She came back with a big stack of tests.”

Burfeind wasn’t surprised that Holmquist won the state test this year with a perfect score.

“I think she puts the effort into it,” Burfeind said. “Math did come easy to her, but she realized she needed to put effort into it to excel. I think the ones who take the Trig-Star test are the ones who have a drive and passion for math.”

Next year when Holmquist is a junior she plans to take International Baccalaureate pre-calculus and become a full-diploma International Baccalaureate candidate.

Holmquist is the daughter of Teri and Duane Dierenfield of Kalispell.

Hilary Matheson is a reporter for The Daily Inter Lake. She may be reached at 758-4431 or [email protected].