UNLV's math team placed 50th out of 322 teams from colleges and universities located throughout the United States and Canada who competed in this year's 61st Annual William Lowell Putnam National Math Competition.

"We are very excited by the performance of our team this year," Arthur Baragar, UNLV math professor and team mentor, said. "For us to place within the top 50 institutions from throughout the United States and Canada is very impressive. I am proud that we can attract such talented students to pursue their education at UNLV."

The competition, sponsored by the Mathematical Association of America, is designed to test the undergraduate students' originality and technical competence in solving a variety of math problems.

UNLV first became involved in the prestigious math competition three years ago when they tied for 110th place with UNR. Last year, the team competed but did not place.

This year's UNLV team consists of Nathan Harvey, a senior majoring in physics and philosophy; Timothy Atobatele, a junior majoring in computer engineering and minoring in mathematics; and Patrick Bennett, a freshman majoring in mathematics.

UNLV math professors Gennady Bachman and Doug Burke assisted in coaching the team.

The top five teams included Duke University, which took first place in the competition, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard, Cal Tech, and the University of Toronto.