Two teams of young Mexican mathematicians rose to the top of the Central American-Caribbean Math Olympiad (OMCC), winning gold and silver medals at the event hosted by the Dominican Republic.

First place was won by the team of Karla Rebeca Mungía from Sinaloa and Daniel Ochoa Quintero from Tamaulipas, while their peers Jacob from Yucatán and Luis Eduardo Martínez from Nuevo León placed second.

Mexican teams have consistently ranked at the top among their regional peers, bringing home gold medals for the past 11 years, the organizers of the Mexican Math Olympiad (OMM) said.

The president of OMM’s organizing committee, Rogelio Valdez Delgado, commended the sponsorship of the disposable consumer product firm Bic, which paid for the youths’ transportation, lodging and travel expenses. He also thanked the support given by the National Council of Science and Technology (Conacyt).

Three of the four students belong to the group of 12 math whizzes that will be traveling to South Africa in early August to participate in an international olympiad.

The team of primary and secondary school students were in the news last month when it was revealed they would be unable to send a full complement to the match because of budget cuts at Conacyt.

But Guadalajara filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and beer maker Grupo Modelo came forward to help out. The former will pay for the students’ flights while the latter has offered to pay for the team’s accommodation.

Source: El Sol de México (sp)