A Win by the Waves

Briana Ta• January 1 , 2026

After a highly anticipated return to Cal State Long Beach’s Math day at the beach, Peninsula's Math Team took home second place in division A. It's a Math tournament hosted by Cal state Long Beach. While 34 total teams participated in the 2025 event, only six qualified for division A. The tournament was a problem solving extravaganza open to all math enthusiasts in the southern California area. The event is sponsored by the Jerry Cassaday Family and LBS Financial Credit Union who ensure it stays free for every participating school. There are several parts to this program.

“[Its] team on team [mostly, however] there are..individual rounds too” Vijaiyan explains, “the high schools [placement] is a combination of teams and individual [scores]”

Throughout the event, contestants solve algebra, trigonometry, number theory and probability problems. Furthermore, they participate in relays and face off against teachers in a tournament style competition. Schools can be placed as a whole and individually through students receiving rewards for high scores. Peninsula’s team competed in the highest level: Division A; in which only six teams qualified.

Math day at the beach was highly anticipated, especially since last year the event was cancelled due to scheduling issues; now the competition is set to be held every Oct. To prepare for the high stakes tournament, Peninsula’s Math Team held its own during lunch competitions, consisting of short timed tests with different kinds of math problems. These tests ranked students' skill levels against each other.

Additionally, to prepare for Math day at the beach, members also practiced individually using previous years tests. Senior Yejun Kang reflected on how the team prepared for the competition.

“[One way we practiced was] individual preparation,” Kang said. “[Since] most of us had done math competitions in the past, we built upon that [knowledge]. For Math at the Beach, we also did the tests from previous years’ tests to practice.” Peninsula's math team placed second in division A.

Aside from the team’s success as a group, sophomore Aaron Luo placed 4th overall through his individual score.

“It felt pretty good, [because] I got some cool prizes,” Luo said “[Ms. Vijaiyan] is definitely proud of us. [I enjoyed the competition because] I just love problem solving”.

This sense of achievement is carried by everyone on the team; who are all super proud of their second place ranking. Overall the team enjoyed participating in this year's math extravaganza. Cal States Long Beach Math day at the beach 2025 is a success by Peninsula’s math team.