Student heads to national contest

For the second straight year, David Stoner has captured the state Mathcounts competition and will return to the national contest in May.

The St. Mary Help of Christians eighth-grader and three teammates also finished third in team play - the first time St. Mary has placed in the state event, said coach Bonnie Martin. The other students are Payton Carter, Bradley Brodie and Ashlee Kay.

Stoner once again bested all students in written tests during the competition in Charleston on Saturday. The team results are based on the test performances of all four students. Stoner and the next three individual finishers will participate in the national event in Washington, D.C.

Remarkably, two of those three are also making return trips to nationals - Stoner and the others were just seventh-graders when they qualified last year.

He also finished first in the informal countdown round, pitting the top 16 students in one-on-one contests with questions asked orally. Carter also did well, taking fourth place.

Although Stoner will move on to South Aiken High School in the fall, Martin noted that Carter and Kay will return to the team, and there are other promising students, as well. St. Mary was very close to second place in the team division Saturday.

"David is a unique individual," Martin said. "There's no question that he has a gift. He has been working very hard and approaches this like an athlete. He lives and breathes math."

The written portion of Mathcounts was a lot harder than the 2010 state event, Stoner said. He's looking forward to the national contest and enjoys the competition with the other national qualifiers from South Carolina.

"It's quite friendly, and it's neat to see those guys going back with me," he said. "It will make it a lot more fun."

Once again, David's parents, Kevin and Karen Stoner, will be on the Mathcounts road for Mother's Day.

"You never know what can happen at one of these types of events," Karen Stoner said of the state championship. "David has matured and is able to handle the pressure. We were joking the night before that you never know what the problems will be. You just have to roll with it and handle it."

Contact Rob Novit at rnovit@aikenstandard.com.