West Valley School eighth-grader Sawyer Schneider rounded off the state Montana Mathcounts competition with a ticket to nationals in May. 

Ranking third out of 65 at the state competition held at Montana Tech in March, Schneider along with three other of the highest-scoring students will represent Montana at the 2026 RTX Mathcounts National Competition. 

The students each received an all-expense paid trip to the national competition in Orlando, Florida, where they will test their mathematical prowess against 224 sixth, seventh and eighth graders for a chance at being crowned champion and winning scholarships.   

The West Valley mathlete continues training in the weeks leading up to nationals May 10-11. 

“I am preparing by doing a packet of 38 questions a week from previous national tests. I started in 2015 and just working forward and I meet via Zoom with the rest of the kids going to nationals on the weekend for two hours,” Schneider said. 

He said the practice is more about honing general skills and concepts as it is rare that a competitor will see the same questions. 

The Mathcounts program is a combination of math coaching and competition. West Valley’s coach, math teacher Peter Musick brings a decade of experience with the Mathcounts program. In 2015, Musick coached the 2015 state winner and national qualifier, Evan Kohler, who was a Kalispell Middle School eighth grader at the time.  

What does a math coach do to prepare students to compete? 

“Give them a ton of problems,” Musick said. “And then, it’s very student led. ... often it is geared toward certain individuals who are just thriving, [wanting] to know more about math and they kind of lead it.” 

At Mathcounts competitions, students are tested on such topics as probability, statistics, linear algebra and polynomials. The competition consists of written tests and a fast-paced oral match called the Countdown Round. The difficulty ranges from sixth-grade to 10th-grade content. 

“I really excel at algebra and occasionally geometry, but for me finding and working with variables has always been easy and understandable,” Schneider said, adding, “I gotta say my favorite is geometry. It’s hard for me, but it’s enjoyable to be able to see the answers, visualize how that would work.” 

Schneider said he didn’t know about the Mathcounts until last year. This year was his second time competing at state, which made it easier to get squared away with what to expect. Still, he said it's a stressful environment. 

“Just knowing you’re around so many kids that already won regionals,” Schneider said. 

For the written portion, competitors’ abilities are tested through a series of multi-step problems with and without the aid of a calculator. Results on the written rounds determine the national team champions and individual student rankings.  

In the Countdown Round, which is open to the public, competitors face each other, in a one-on-one oral competition for the 10 top-scoring students in the written portion of the competition. 

“It is so stressful. You’re given questions on a board, they’re read to you, and you have to answer them faster than one other person,” Schneider said. 

During the Countdown Round, which Musick likened to the quiz gameshow “Jeopardy!,” students get 45 seconds to buzz in with the correct answer. The Countdown Round is also held in front of an audience at both the state and national level, adding to the pressure. 

"And so, you’ve got some kids answering before the question is even done [being read],” he said.  

A curveball was also thrown into the word problems in the form of odd vocabulary, according to Musick and Schneider. 

“It’s like they throw you through a loop. What kind of a sentence structure is this?" Musick said. “It is very interesting to see some of the vocabulary words that they use that are not even really math-related. They just throw in random names and words that are kind of goofy.” 

Schneider said he strategized by pacing himself before buzzing in. 

“I'll get almost [to] the answer, buzz in, and by the time I have to speak, I’ll have the answer,” he said. 

He said this strategy worked about half the time. But when it doesn’t, “It’s really stressful knowing I may have had another 10 seconds to get the answer right,” he said. 

Out in the audience, Musick knew Schneider made it to nationals, whereas the mathlete was not certain if he made the cut. 

“His mom sat in front of me, and I was debating whether or not to tell her. And I did. I was like, letting you know, your son did make it to nationals,” Musick said with a smile. 

He said it was because of Schneider’s and a classmate’s interest in competing that West Valley had a Mathcounts program this year. 

“There is so much good in competing. I think it’s healthy to compete. Not just in sports, but also in academics,” he said.    

The self-motivated eighth grader's goal for the national competition is to make it to the top 50. 

“I’m really looking forward to getting to meet so many kids similar to myself, and challenging myself, seeing how well I can do against people from all over the U.S.,” he said.  

How difficult are Mathcounts competition problems? Try the problem of the week at mathcounts.org. 

Reporter Hilary Matheson can be reached at 406-758-4431 or [email protected]. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at dailyinterlake.com/support.