STUDENT EXCELLENCE THRIVES IN NATIONAL MATH COMPETITION

OTTAWA, Ontario — Four high school students have earned top national honours after competing with thousands of other high school students across Canada in the 2011 Sun Life Financial Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge (COMC) competition.

The award winning top ranked students in Canada are:

• Matthew Brennan, Upper Canada College (Toronto, ON) - National Gold Medal
• Steven Yu, Pinetree Secondary School (Coquitlam, BC) - National Gold Medal
• James Rickards, Colonel By Secondary School (Ottawa, ON) - National Silver Medal
• Kevin Zhou, Woburn Collegiate Institute (Scarborough, ON) - National Bronze Medal

In addition, 22 students have been awarded national performance medals at the grade 9, 10, 11, and 12 levels. Medals were also awarded to 34 students for outstanding performance in their province. For 2011, 13 students were named to the COMC National Honour Roll and 46 students were named to their respective Provincial Honour Roll.

"Sun Life Financial is proud to support excellence in mathematics across Canada through our partnership with the Canadian Mathematical Society," said Kevin Dougherty, President, Sun Life Financial Canada. "Congratulations to all the COMC participants and award-winners."

"The COMC is Canada's national mathematics competition for any student with an interest in mathematics," said Jacques Hurtubise, President of the CMS. "The competition is designed to engage students at any level of interest and encourages them to develop those critical analytical and problem solving skills that are essential to their future studies and careers."

The COMC is the first in a series of CMS math competitions leading to the selection of student members for Math Team Canada to compete in the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO). Based upon performance in the 2011 COMC, 65 students are being invited to write the Sun Life Financial Repêchage competition and 66 students have been invited to write Sun Life Financial Canadian Mathematical Olympiad (CMO) competition. CMS competitions attract student participants from across Canada and around the world.

About the Canadian Mathematical Society (CMS)

The CMS is the national mathematics organization whose goal is to promote the advancement, discovery, learning, and application of mathematics. The Society's activities cover the whole spectrum of mathematics including: scientific meetings, research publications, and the promotion of excellence in mathematics education at all levels. The CMS annually sponsors mathematics competitions that recognize outstanding student achievements.