Not too many sixth graders participate in Minnesota MATHCOUNTS, and even fewer make it to the National MATHCOUNTS Competition. But in 2018, an enthusiastic Rochester sixth grader, Golden Peng, was on Minnesota’s national MATHCOUNTS team.
Golden didn’t leave MATHCOUNTS behind after that first national competition. Instead, he expanded his focus on math. That focus grew to include the Minnesota HS Math League and the Minnesota All-State Math Team.
Working with Kellogg Middle School coach Jack Failor, Golden became an assistant MATHCOUNTS coach and went to the National Competition in 2022 and 2023. Again in 2024, shortly before graduating from Century High School, Golden Peng went to MATHCOUNTS National as the assistant Team Minnesota! coach.
The team competed with more than 50 teams from across the nation, military bases overseas and US territories. They came home triumphant, ranking fourth in the national competition.
We wanted to know if there was a secret to their success? Not to hear Golden tell the story. It was hard work, a team with two experienced national competitors and two novices who worked well with each other and their coaches, and even more hard work.
Facing more than 50 teams had to be a high-stress experience. But Team Minnesota! came home with the trophies and awards that proved they were up to the challenge! Team member Eric Ding, from Failor and Peng’s Rochester Kellogg home team, placed fifth in the written round of the national competition.
In Minnesota MATHCOUNTS’ 40 years, neither Team Minnesota! nor any of its team members placed that high. Initial concerns that melding two coaches with four mathletes from schools in Minnetonka, Rochester, and Wayzata may have been difficult, faded away.
“Getting to know Golden for 5 years as his former coach and then working side by side with him was a joy. To see him grow and give back to his community is exactly what MATHCOUNTS is about. He is going to do amazing things!”
– Kellogg Middle School MATHCOUNTS Coach, Jack Failor
Today, after several years as an assistant MATHCOUNTS coach and a Rochester Math Club coach, Peng still finds coaching intriguing. Following that interest has led him to UC Berkeley, where he continues to explore how mathematical thinking can be applied beyond competition settings.
Through coaching, Golden honed the ability to break down complex concepts, adapt explanations to different learning styles, and create structured plans that build both individual skills and group cohesion. These experiences directly connect to his studies in Applied Math, centered on optimizing systems, analyzing uncertainty, and improving efficiency.
His courses like MATH 104 (Analysis) and MATH 110 (Abstract Linear Algebra) have tested his ability to think rigorously and recognize structure in complex problems, much like preparing students for competition.
Looking ahead, he hopes to use these skills to optimize large-scale systems—whether in transportation, finance, or infrastructure—where mathematical thinking can drive real-world improvements. Just as coaching helped him break down problems and guide students toward solutions, he aims to reveal hidden geometric and geospatial inefficiencies that shape the world.