MOORPARK : Students’ Math Scores Highest in County

Moorpark High School senior Tom Niday says he was so tense about a test he took for a nationwide math competition this year that he was shaking by the time he finished the exam.

“It was an incredibly difficult test,” the 17-year-old said.

Despite his nervousness, Tom scored 120 out of 150 possible points on the American High School Mathematics Examination, helping to propel Moorpark High to third place among 133 Southern California schools, both private and public.

Moorpark High was ahead of all other Ventura County high schools that entered students in the competition.

Math teacher Craig Carlyle said this year marks the first time Moorpark High had a higher score than Thousand Oaks High School, which tied for 19th place among Southern California schools, according to results released last week.

To participate, schools have their best math students take the exam, which consists of complex algebra, trigonometry and geometry problems. About 70 Moorpark students took the test this year.

Each school’s total points are equal to the sum of its top three student scores.

In addition to Tom with his score of 120, Moorpark High’s top students were Lena Poloncic with 115 points, and Danny Lorenzen with a score of 100--for a school total of 335 points. Lena has moved out of state since taking the test in February.

Both Tom and Danny said they were happy because their test scores represented their personal bests.

The boys had taken the test during each of the four years since they started at Moorpark High, but they earned their highest scores this year.

And Danny said he was especially pleased because he passed the threshold of 100 points that earned him a certificate and pin and the right to enter the next stage of competition.

“I couldn’t believe that I actually did it,” said Danny, 17, a senior who plans to enroll at Brigham Young University in the fall. “It always seemed so unattainable.”

Tom and Danny took the test in April for the second level of competition, but the results have not been released.

Although both boys are honor students in all their subjects, they said they have a special fondness for mathematics.

“It’s not nebulous like history and English,” said Tom, a National Merit Scholar who will attend Caltech in Pasadena in the fall. “You know you’re right. You do it and you don’t have to argue about whether it’s right or not.”