The team from St. Joseph School, Toms River, ranked first among Catholic school competitors in the 41st annual Brother Christian Jones Eighth Grade Mathematics Contest held Oct. 20 in Christian Brothers Academy. The competition, named for the long-time head of the CBA Mathematics department at the Lincroft secondary school, drew 16 public and 16 private or parochial school teams from around the state.

Eight students per school were tasked to solve 20 multiple-choice pre-Algebraic problems in an hour’s time; the top five scores were combined to set the team score. St. Joseph students ranked third among all competitors, bested only by the teams from Oak Hill Academy, Lincroft and the Elisabeth Morrow School in Englewood,

Other Catholic school competitors had strong finishes in the annual contest, reported Patrick Melosh, CBA mathematics department head and a student of the late Brother Jones. St. Leo the Great, Lincroft, took home fourth place honors, while the Metuchen diocese’s St. Ambrose, Old Bridge, scored fifth overall.

Other Catholic school competitors from the diocese included St. Catharine, Spring Lake; Mother Teresa Regional, Atlantic Highlands; St. Dominic, Brick; St. Benedict, Holmdel; St. Jerome, West Long Branch; Holy Cross, Rumson; St. Aloysius, Jackson; St. Veronica, Howell; and St. Mary, Middletown.

Individual students were feted at the contest as well. St. Leo the Great’s Christian Sasso ranked seventh overall, followed closely by Christopher Nivera of St. Ambrose in eighth and Joseph LaForgia of St. Joseph in the tenth position.