Math Team Earns 6th In State Accolades
Barb Dawson • May 28, 2025
Great Season celebrated at Celebration of Excellence Awards.
Montini Catholic's Math Team stood for applause on Friday, May 16th during Montini Catholic's Celebration of Excellence Award Ceremony and were honored for taking 6th Place in the ICTM (Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics) State Math Competition this spring.
"The team accomplished another year of success and achievement beyond expectation," said Principal Chris Tiritilli. Earlier in the season, the team celebrated a 2nd place finish at the Lemont Invitational (among 20 teams) and took 3rd place in the AA division at the Math Teachers Association (MTA) Invitational. The Regional Meet this year was filled with awards and cemented Montini's standing as a dominant State competitor. The team had two Individual Regional Champions (Conor Kaefer '26 Lombard) and Zion Yang '26 (International student)) and four Team Regional Champions (Geometry, Algebra II, PreCalculus and Calculator Teams) with an overall team Regional 1st Place trophy. In addition to their 6th Place at State, the team celebrated their Frosh-Soph Two-Person Team (Gavin Conway '27 (Lombard) and Yingying Tang '27 (International student)) on their State Championship accomplishment.
"Montini is one of only two teams, and the only Catholic team in Division 2A to qualify for the State Meet for the past 24 consecutive years. Additionally, they finished in the Top 10 for 23 of those years (and was #11 once)," said Math Team Moderator (and Math Department Chair) Chrissy McManus.
Image above:
Math Team - Front row l to r: Olivia Naso, Jasmine Brunke, Priscilla Martinez, Monroe MacRitchie, Ellanore Selinsky, Isabella Jaojoco, Zongyuan (Chailyn) Lyu, Yingying Tang, Lorelei Nelson, Seoyeon Park, Julia Gergen, Brianna Konopacz and Kayli Gergen; Second row: Nishika Karthi, Jack Barrett, Geethan Siram, Chris Zayed, Charles Paciga, Brendan Pully, Josh Brunke, Ruikun (Ray) Li, Andrew Hemmersmeier and Matthew Silveyra; Back row: Gavin Conway, Julian D’Anca, Michael Pivoney, Danny Sherman, Andrew Sparke, Wyatt Prater, Conor Kaefer, Thomas Healy, Zihang (Zion) Yang, Kwan Ho (Eric) Hu and Julian Reyes; Not pictured:
James Schisler, Daniel Southern, Yongtai (Andy) Chen, Danni (Katerina) Xie,
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New friends were made and high school anxieties calmed on Thursday, 12th at Montini Catholic High School's First Step Social welcoming their Class of 2029. Montini Catholic's First Step Social is the first opportunity for Montini's newest freshmen to begin building class spirit and to get to know their fellow classmates and future friends. The informal event, facilitated by the school's Admissions team, included several small group games, led by members of Montini's Peer Ministry Team, intended to break the ice and get freshmen excited about their high school years. Parents were also invited to attend and gathered in a separate location in order to meet up with current parent ambassadors, ask questions and gain more insight in preparation for the next four years. Students and parents were treated to burgers and hotdogs via Tailgate Caterers in Lombard. "It was very exciting to have so many new Broncos and their parents on Montini Catholic's campus for our First Step Social," said Admissions Coordinator Sara McGady. "The goal of this event is to provide our new freshmen with a sense of familiarity when they walk through our doors again in August. We also wanted to give our new parents a chance to ask questions and meet fellow parents as they start their new journey as high school parents."

Montini Catholic was proud to honor fifteen special seniors on May 16th at the Lasallian college preparatory high school's Celebration of Excellence Awards ceremony. The group represents what Montini Catholic endearingly defines as their graduating "Legacy Students" - students of alumni parents who also graduated from Montini Catholic. This year fifty-two 52 total students of alumni are carrying on their parents' legacies at Montini Catholic, a number that represents close to 10% of Montini's total student body. Each year senior legacy students are called up on stage to receive a special stole to be worn at graduation. Alumni parents are also invited to take a special portrait with their senior as a keepsake on graduation day. "We are always honored when our alumni return as Montini parents to continue our Bronco legacy," said Alumni Relations Officer William Dawes '13. "When you are at Montini Catholic, you are family, which is one of the main reasons parents choose Montini. An education at Montini is a unique experience and we love to see our legacy grow with each passing year." Montini Catholic's 2024-25 Legacy Seniors (alumni parent(s) under students' names): Katelyn (Kat) Bell ‘25 Jackson Bell ‘27 Patrick Bell ‘96 Peter Considine ‘25 Michael Considine ‘86 Annalee DeFeo ‘25 Laura (LaMontagna) DeFeo ’93 & Michael DeFeo ‘93 Nolan Ferris ‘25 Shannon (O’Connor) Ferris ‘93 James Fitzpatrick ‘25 Michael Fitzpatrick ‘88 Zoe Gangas ‘25 Nick Gangas ‘81 Sean Hubeny ‘25 Katie (Doll) Hubeny ’96 & James Hubeny ‘96 Nick Irion ‘25 and Vince Irion ‘25 Dave Irion ‘88 Vincent Knudtson ‘25 Lia (Badalamenti) Knudtson ‘89 Jamie Loftus ‘25 Christina (Connelly) Loftus ‘86 Margaret Nielsen ‘25 Maureen (O’Neill) Nielsen ‘87 Ava Sebben ‘25 Patricia (Gary) Sebben ‘90 Lily Spanos ‘25 Shannon (Herold) Spanos ‘99 Collins Whitfield ‘25 Katherine (Janko) Whitfield ‘00 Collins Whitfield ‘00 Image above: Front l to r: Lily Spanos, Ava Sebben, Margaret Nielsen, Jamie Loftus, Sean Hubeny, Zoe Gangas, Nolan Ferris, Annalee DeFeo and Kat Bell; Back row l to r: Collins Whitfield, Vincent Knudtson, Vince Irion, Nick Irion, Jimmy Fitzpatrick and Peter Considine;

Montini Catholic congratulates senior Julia Gergen on being this year's recipient of the Jean Diane Colletti Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship is one of several that have been named and endowed by Montini Catholic alumni, parents and friends in order to provide financial assistance to graduates pursuing higher learning in college. The award was announced at the Lasallian college preparatory high school's annual Academic Awards Banquet (May 1st) this spring by Dr. Vince Colletti DDS '05 (son of Jean Diane Colletti) Julia was honored again on May 16th at Montini's Celebration of Excellence Award ceremony in front of the entire student body. Julia has been a very academically accomplished student throughout their four years at Montini Catholic. In May she received the President's Award for Academic Excellence, she is an Illinois State Scholar and a College Board Advanced Placement Scholar. Julia was also a member of Mu Alpha Theta Math Honor Society, Tri-M Music Honor Society as well as Montini's National Honor Society where she served as Secretary her senior year. She enjoyed her time as a member of Montini's Math Team, and celebrated their 6th Place State finish this year. Julia also valued her experience gained from serving her fellow students as a Peer Minister through Montini's Campus Ministry program. Athletically, Julia was a valued member of Montini's Track & Field Team and celebrated securing school records her junior year in the 4x100m and 4x200m races. "Julia has been an outstanding student," said Principal Chris Tiritilli. "Her academic and athletic career here at Montini has been quite extensive and impressive. She is never seen without a smile on her face, she has been a role model to her fellow students. She truly deserves this recognition and we know she will do great things at Notre Dame!" Julia, a St. Pius X Parish School alum, and a member of St. Pius X Parish. She plans on majoring in Biological Sciences on a Pre-Med Track at the University of Notre Dame in the fall. Above: Julia Gergen '25 and Dr. Vince Colletti DDS '05 at Montini Catholic's Academic Awards Night on May 1st.