On Saturday, Jan. 31, 98 students in grades 6-8 from 12 schools competed in the 32nd annual Southern New Hampshire Regional Mathcounts competition at McKelvie Intermediate School in Bedford.

Taking first-place honors in a close competition was the Academy for Science and Design in Nashua, coached by Seema Sundara and Waiman Long. Team members were Amol Khanna, Suhaas Katikaneni, Owen Long and Kunaal Sundara.

Placing second was Fairgrounds Middle School in Nashua, coached by Siva Ravada and Pallavi Ravada. Team members were Ashok Arun, Rubin Zou, Ankita Devasia and Juia Zhang.

Third place was awarded to Hollis Brookline Middle School, coached by Rosemary Mezzocchi. Team members were Felix Yang, Kay Partridge, Nicole Plummer and Dale Jacobs.

In the individual competition, the top four scorers in order were Zou, Fairgrounds; Long and Sundara, ASD; and Devasia, Fairgrounds.

In the fast-paced Countdown Round, the top four winners were, in order, Long and Sundara, ASD, and Devasia and Zou, Fairgrounds.

In addition to the members of the top three teams, representing the region at the state Mathcounts competition at Plymouth State University in March will be Frederick Lee and Swetha Donepudi, ASD; Lukas Fong, Nashua Catholic Regional Junior High School; and Benji Zhang, Ross A. Lurgio School, Bedford.

The top four individual scorers and coach of the winning team at the state competition will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to the Raytheon Mathcounts National Competition in Boston in May.

Mathcounts is a national math enrichment, coaching and competition program that increases enthusiasm and enhances achievement in middle school mathematics throughout the United States. Since the program began in 1983, more than 6 million students have participated in Mathcounts.

Mathcounts is sponsored locally by the New Hampshire Society of Professional Engineers.

For more information about Mathcounts and how to participate, help as volunteer or make a donation, visit mathcounts.org.