IOWA CITY, Iowa - Several Ann Arbor students secured spots on the state's all-star math teams in order to compete in the "World Series of mathematics competitions" held in June.

The all-stars are recruited from the top students in the Michigan Math Prize Competition, a statewide contest that draws more than 8,000 high school students each year.

Michigan fielded three all-star "A teams," which competed at the American Regions Mathematics League annual competition on June 2 and 3. The Michigan teams traveled to the University of Iowa, and other competition sites include Penn State, University of Georgia and University of Nevada Las Vegas.

The Michigan All-Stars Math A1 Team placed 12th nationally, out of 140 teams. There were a total of 74 A teams and 66 B teams this year.

The following Ann Arbor-area students made the Michigan all-star teams: Jong Suk Lee, Elizabeth Li, Grace Li, James Xiu, Zheng "James" Yang, Kristine Zheng and Derek Zhu, of Ann Arbor's Huron High School; Jason Hu and Chenxin "Jayson" Song, of Ann Arbor's Pioneer High School; Grace Zheng, of Ann Arbor's Skyline High School; Julian Wellman and Alan Zhu, of Greenhills School; and Noah Luntzlara, who is homeschooled.

Luntzlara and Grace Zheng were co-captains of Michigan's A1 team that took 12th in the nation. Hu, Lee, Wellman and Alan Zhu also were on that team.

Song, Xiu, Yang, and Derek Zhu were on Michigan's A2 team, where Derek was the high individual round scorer with 8-out-of-10. Derek and Yang were co-captains of A2.

Elizabeth Li, Grace Li and Kristine Zheng were on the A3 team.

Other members of Michigan's all-star teams came from the cities of Troy, Bloomfield Hills, Novi, Northville, Canton, Fort Gratiot, Midland, Okemos, Mount Pleasant and Grand Rapids.

Professors David Friday of Macomb Community College, Cap Khoury of Everi Games, Ruth Favro and Na Yu of Lawrence Technological University, and Mark Bollman of Albion College, organized the Michigan team.

Additional help came from guest coaches Peter Collins, of Huron High School; James Wenson, of Macomb Community College; Nicholas Cirullo, of Sterling Heights; and chaperones Susie Khoury, Karuna Arora, Mike Kolanowski and Agnes Ginardi.

Teams of 15 students compete in four rounds, which include a team round with 20 minutes to answer 10 questions; a power round, with an hour to write full proofs; an individual round, with 50 minutes to answer 10 questions; and a relay round, where five, three-person groups answer questions.