At the West Suburban Conference meet on Feb. 1 at LT, the math team placed third overall behind only Hinsdale Central and York. The meet precedes the important regional meet on Feb. 27, which is the competition that allows schools to qualify for the state competition May 7-8 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The team is backed by particularly strong sophomore-level members, composed of competitors such as Tim Houston, Eric Ko , Allison Fischer, Lauren Schissler and Nora Dunleavy.

“This group of sophomores is probably the best I’ve seen since I’ve been coaching,” head sophomore coach Chuck Witt said. “These guys are consistent and I think what sets them apart is their effort and motivation outside of practice.”

At conference, the sophomore level took first overall, followed by a second-place finish by the juniors and third-place for seniors, while individuals Ko, Fischer, Lenny Prystalski ‘17 and team president Spencer Coffee ‘16 earned the title of all-conference. Prior to conference, the team has been consistently placing second or third in meets, head coach Jennifer Szczesniak said.

“We’ve had a great number of students participating this year,” Szczesniak said. “[It’s] great that the interest is high and that the teams are deep. We have a lot of depth on the bench as they would say in sports.”

In order to qualify for state, teams can either win their regional meet and automatically advance downstate, or they can possibly obtain one of four wildcard spots. Last year, LT advanced through winning the regional, but has also qualified through the wildcard spot in years past, Szczesniak said.

“[At] state we normally place anywhere from 10^th to 20^th, so to get a high [place] in state would be really great,” Coffee said. “I’m pretty confident that we can [qualify for state].”

Even with the considerable number of people on the team, all members have the opportunity to make a difference at competitions.

“It’s one of those things where you don’t have to be on it all four years to be able to participate and contribute,” Witt said. “It’s cool that it’s something you can pick up any time.”