Walking is not so easy when trying to match your movements to a graph.

On Nov. 20, eight Physics 9 students competed in the 3rd annual Graph Matching Competition.

When participating in the Graph Matching Competition, students tried to move towards and away from a motion sensor, which tracks their movement on a graph projected on a huge screen. Students attempt to match their movements to the graph projected on the screen.

Ninth grader Noel Abraham won the tournament, the first student to ever win the tournament while representing a class of Scot Hovan, one of two Physics 9 teachers at SPA.

The past two years, the students who have won the competition were taught by Karissa Baker, the other teacher of Physics 9.

“I was hoping that this year I would finally have one of my students represent a victory, purely because of the law of averages. I was going to start to take it personally if Ms. Baker won three years in a row, knowing that I have five [class] sections and she only has three. I really had my fingers crossed,” Hovan said.

Abraham said he was “pumped,” before the competition.

“It feelt amazing. I don’t know how I wasn’t actually screaming so loud that I lost my voice,” Abraham said.

Abraham started to realize he was going to win when John Hall, his final competitor, accidentally started moving out of range of the motion detector, which impacted his score negatively.

During the competition, students were cheering loudly and holding up their class period signs with pride.

“I had my whole class telling me where to start and cheering me on. I was happy that I had everyone with me,” Abraham said.

Students this year were very excited about the competition.

“I know that the students this year were really taking it seriously, so preparation played a role as well,” Hovan said.

Students practiced graph matching two or three times in class. Every class period prepared in the same way, no matter their teacher. This ensured every student had an equal chance at winning the competition. But preparing for the physical aspect of the competition does not always prepare students for competing in front of the entire 9th grade.   

“The physical act of turning around while they’re trying to watch [the screen] and staying in a straight line is pretty challenging,” Hovan said.

Baker agrees with Hovan: “It’s a lot of pressure to be up there on the stage. They’re doing a lot of thinking about what they need to do.”

Hovan advised his students on how to keep a good mentality during the competition.

“This year we talked about the importance of staying calm, keeping your head in the game and making sure you realize that it’s just about participating and engaging,” Hovan said.

Hall, one of Abraham’s final competitors, followed this mentality.

“I didn’t really have the intention of getting into the competition, I was just doing this with my friends for fun… And it turns out I’m not that bad at it,” Hall said.

Before the competition, Ruby Hoeschen, one of the participants said: “I’m just going to try my best… but it’s okay if I don’t win.”

“It’s a fun experience. It’s a game, so to get everyone into it is the most fun part, but I don’t really care if they win or lose,” Baker said.