Thirteen students from Southwest Middle School are making some big waves, thanks to their love of math.

The students, who have been involved with Minnesota Mathcounts and Math League competitions, showed their skill in tackling math problems earlier this month through chapter and division competitions.

After months of practice both inside and outside of the school, their hard work paid off.

The Southwest Math League placed first in the division competition on Feb. 2 during the last of five meets scheduled over the course of the school year. The Southwest league competed with other math leagues from Fairmont, Owatonna and Blue Earth.

The league competition included two individual competitions and a team event. Officials took the total from the individual and team events to get the total score for the team.

Students J.B. Miller took first in the individual portion of the division competition, Mark McGivern took third, John Buringa took sixth, Ben Leisen also took sixth and Emma Behling took 10th.

“They have an interest in math and a love for learning,” said the Southwest Math League coach Melodie Miller. The math league allows the students to stretch their abilities.

In addition to the division competition, however, four of the students placed fourth at the Mathcounts competition Feb. 6 and will now move on to the 2009 Mathcounts State Competition in Plymouth on March 14 with about 120 other sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade math students from the state. The top four winners from the state meet will go on to compete at the national competition in Disneyworld in Orlando, Fla.

The four students attending the Mathcounts State Competition as a team are McGivern, Buringa, Behling and Joseph Grano. McGivern will also compete in the individual portion.

Miller and Marci Maier, the Mathcounts coach, said they are proud of the students. The teachers said the school has had the math league for at least 20 years. It’s something the students are dedicated to, as they come into school early two days a week to practice, they said.

This is the first time that they could remember, however, that any of the students are moving on to the state level.

“It’s a fun way to exercise your brain,” said Grano, who said he got involved with the math league and Mathcounts because of his father, who’s a math teacher, and his friend J.B. Miller.

Behling said she got involved with the league because her older siblings were both a part of it when they were in middle school.

Plus, she said, “I have always liked math. I like numbers.”

Behling said she wants to be a math teacher someday.

McGivern, who is also the Albert Lea School District’s spelling bee winner, said he’s loved math since he was young. When he placed as an individual in fifth and sixth grade with the Math Masters of Minnesota competition, he decided to get more involved with math.

“I like to learn, and numbers can explain many things,” he said.

J.B. Miller, who wants to be an engineer when he grows up, said he just likes solving math problems.

“It’s fun,” he said. He’s always been good in math, and his mother is the Math League coach.

Students in the Southwest Math League are J.B. Miller, Mark McGivern, John Buringa, Emma Behling, Ben Leisen, Ben Jones, Joseph Grano, Sara Sanderson, Megan Stark, Ben Kelly, Andy Christian, Colin Jahnke and A.J. Krowiorz.