THE CHARLOTTE

OBSERVER

N.C. GIRL WINS 3RD PLACE IN

NATIONAL MATH CONTEST

Saturday, May 16, 1987

Section: METRO

Page: 1B

By RICKI MORELL, Staff Writer

Memo: Story shorter in edition 2

Illustration: PHOTO

Caption: Associated Press: Russell Mann of Clarksville,

Tenn., and Ashley Reiter (center) of Charlotte receive congratulations Friday in

Washington from Vice President George Bush.

Charlotte Latin School eighth grader Ashley Reiter on Friday

became the first girl to win a medal in the national Mathcounts Competition

in Washington.

Ashley, 13, who is so good in math she tutors college students

at UNCC, won a third-place bronze medal presented to her by

Vice President George Bush.

``I`m thrilled,`` Ashley said Friday from Washington. ``I`ve

been working hard and I expected to be in the top 10. But I really didn`t

expect to be in the top three.``

Four students from each state and U.S. territory - 216 students

in all - competed in the contest sponsored by the National

Professional Society of Engineers. They answered written and oral questions on such

subjects as probability, statistics, linear algebra and polynomials.

Only 24 were girls, and only one of them - Ashley - made it to

the top 10.

``I think it`s quite a tribute to her and all of the hard work she`s

done,`` said Charlotte Latin headmaster Edward Fox.

For Ashley, math runs in the family. Her father, Harold Reiter,

Teaches math at UNCC and her mother, Betty Reiter, teaches computer

science at UNCC.

``We`re very pleased,`` Harold Reiter said. ``We weren`t

expecting such a high finish, but we`re not totally surprised. Still, this is much

better than we thought she would do.``

This is the fourth year of the national competition, which is

designed to show that ``math can be exciting and fun,`` said Mario

Baldessari, a Mathcounts spokesman in Washington.

The N.C. team - composed of four students and an alternate -

came in eighth out of 54 teams. The S.C. team came in 23rd.

``North Carolina has traditionally had a strong team,``

Baldessari said.

The other N.C. team members were Stephen London of Grey

Culbreth Junior High in Chapel Hill, Tim Ross of Lowes Grove Junior High in

Durham and Ghene Faulcon of Ligon Middle School in Raleigh. Spencer Mar of

Grey Culbreth Junior High was the alternate.

To become a member of the state team, they competed against

more than 1,300 students in regional and state competitions.

Ashley is the 1987 state champion.

In the national competition, girls have made it to the top 10, but

never to the top three, Baldessari said.

First- and second-place winners in the national competition

also were from the South: Russell Mann from Clarksville, Tenn., and Jason

Hughes of Montevallo, Ala.

``There were a lot of jokes up here about the South rising

again,`` Baldessari said.

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