Brice Johnson, a student from Tracy Area Schools, paused to think during a team round of the Math Masters math competition at SMSU on Thursday. More than 200 students from 15 area schools took part in the competition.

MARSHALL — The gymnasium was packed with area fourth, fifth and sixth-graders gathered around tables. But in spite of the size of the crowd, the kids were quiet as they hunched over their papers. Everyone was focused on solving math problems at the annual Math Masters competition at the campus of Southwest Minnesota State University.

Some students said they were taking Thursday’s competition pretty seriously.

“We’re trying to get first this year,” said Paige Schuur, a sixth-grade student from the Murray County Central school district. Schuur and her teammates said several MCC students had scored well at Math Masters last year.

Around 250 students from around southwest Minnesota competed on Thursday, said Dr. Heather Moreland, coordinator of the Math Masters event in Marshall. That total broke down to around 40 Math Masters teams from 15 different schools.

“We have more students than we did last year,” Moreland said. “Fifth grade (division) is at capacity.”

Math Masters is a competition where students in grades 4-6 complete eight sets of math problems, with both individual and team rounds. Since 1989, the program has grown to sites across Minnesota and Wisconsin. “I think they’re up to over 5,000 students statewide this year,” Moreland said.

The competition was a fun way to encourage area kids in fields like math, engineering and science, organizers said.

Teams competing at Math Masters included students from Tracy Area Schools, Redwood Area Schools and Murray County Central. Kids said they were having fun taking part in the competition.

“It’s been going good,” said Wesley Biegler, a sixth grade student from MCC.

Some of the questions in the Math Masters tests covered areas of math students were also learning in school, said a group of Tracy sixth graders.

“There’s been percentage questions, fractions, and turning fractions into percentages,” said Tracy student Gage Caron.

Tracy team members said getting to have fun and make new friends were some of the best parts of Math Masters. “Our motivation is, if we do good we get to have a treat somewhere on the way home,” Braydon Marron said.

The team was still taking the competition seriously, though.

“I’m very competitive, because I’m good at math,” Brice Johnson said.

Besides having a growing number of students participating this year, the area Math Masters competition is growing in other ways. Moreland said she’s planning to use the stipend she received for coordinating the event to help create a STEM symposium at SMSU. She hoped to be able to invite a nationally-known speaker on math or science topics, and open the symposium to both the university and the general public.

“This is great in terms of creating a connection” with area students, Moreland said of Math Masters. With additional events like the STEM symposium, Math Masters could also make connections with the broader community, she said.