The regional 2019 MATHCOUNTS competition was held at Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College in Middlesboro recently

The top teams were Harlan Middle, first; Bell Central, second; and James A. Cawood Elementary, third.

Top individual scores were Meredith Allen, Bell Central, first; Dillon Scott, Rosspoint, second; Caleb Rose, Rosspoint, third; Marissa Marlowe, Harlan, fourth; Brett Wes Johnson, Rosspoint, fifth; Krisha Sajnani, Harlan, sixth; Bradley Brock, Wallins, seventh; and Josh Pinkley, Cumberland, eighth.

Allen, the sixth-grade daughter of Waylon and Angela Allen, won a full scholarship to the University of Kentucky.

The top two overall teams advance to the state, along with four individuals — Rose, Scott and Johnson from Rosspoint, and Brock from Wallins.

Dillon Scott won the Countdown Round. Sajnani was second.

Corey Napier, a member of the Kentucky Society of Professional Engineers Pine Mountain Chapter, said the competition is for sixth, seventh and eighth graders.

The competition featured schools from Bell County, Harlan County, Harlan Independent and Middlesboro Independent. These included: Bell Central School Center, Black Mountain Elementary School, Cawood Elementary School, Cumberland Elementary School, Evarts Elementary School, Harlan Middle School, James A Cawood Elementary School, Right Fork School Center, Rosspoint Elementary School, Wallins Elementary School and Middlesboro Middle School.

Napier, a professional engineer for Vaughn and Melton Consulting Engineers Inc., said MATHCOUNTS is a national math enrichment, coaching and competition program that promotes middle school mathematics achievement through grassroots involvement in every U.S. state and territory.

MATHCOUNTS is one of the most successful education partnerships involving volunteers, educators and industry sponsors and students, Napier said.

The organization’s mission statement is to increase enthusiasm for and enhance achievement in middle school mathematics throughout the United States, he said. It is supported primarily by the Kentucky Society of Professional Engineers, the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics and the CAN Foundation.