Since GDS’ inaugural Integration Bee—a tournament-style calculus competition—in 2023, no first seed had ever advanced past the first round.
This year’s competition appeared poised to follow that pattern. Top-seeded senior Oliver Malkin was behind, 1–0, against senior Noah Kolker, the eighth seed. Malkin came back, however, tying the match 1–1 on the fourth integral before quickly circling a correct answer on the fifth to advance. But he didn’t stop there. Malkin defeated his next two opponents and broke the curse in dramatic fashion, winning the coveted title of Grand Integrator.
Seniors Oliver Wolin and Lucas Qi organized this year’s Integration Bee, which was held in the Forum on Wednesday, March 18. This year’s Bee drew a crowd of approximately 100 students, faculty and family members; in the inaugural Bee, the Bit estimated that about 350 people attended the event. Wolin, who said he’s attended every Bee since it began in 2023, noticed a decrease in the number of spectators this year and a specific decline in the number of freshmen at this year’s Bee. Qi similarly said he observed fewer underclassmen at the Bee than he had in previous years.
“I’ve gotten a vague impression that underclassmen, or really freshmen, are participating less in school clubs and activities,” Wolin said. “So I suppose the 2026 Integration Bee fit into that trend.”
But even with that lower turnout, Wolin said the audience had the same level of energy and enthusiasm as in previous years. “I mean, the people who were there were still filling up most of the Forum from what I could tell,” Wolin said. “And they were still loud and excited, and it was still a great time.”
“We try to make it [the Integration Bee] feel more like a sports tournament than a math test,” Qi said. In the Bee, eight contestants raced to solve integrals on whiteboards within a set time; throughout the night, a student band played after each round, announcers added commentary and senior Natasha Rubinson worked the crowd, interviewing audience members.
To participate in the Bee, prospective contestants took a written qualifying test two weeks prior to the competition, for which they had 20 minutes to solve 20 integrals. The top eight scorers advanced to the competition and were seeded accordingly. According to Wolin, 29 people took the test this year, which he said was the largest number of applicants in the Bee’s history.
Contestants had three minutes to solve the integrals in the first two rounds and 3:30 in the final round. The first two rounds were best-of-three, with additional integrals added if neither contestant secured two wins, and the final round was best-of-five.
In the second first-round matchup, senior Teresa Dean, the fifth seed, quickly jumped out to a 1–0 lead over senior Carter Kunz, the fourth seed. (Dean is a writer for the Bit.) Kunz circled an answer for the next integral within 30 seconds, but soon shook his head, realizing he made a mistake. With just over a minute remaining, Dean circled a correct answer to secure a 2–0 win and advance to the semifinals.
After a brief performance from the band, senior Amit Tate, the second seed, took on sophomore Uygar Turkbey, the seventh seed. Tate, who was the first seed last year, lost in the first round of last year’s tournament; his brother, Ashok Tate ’23, also lost as the first seed in 2023. The family’s misfortunes continued this year: Turkbey defeated Tate 2–0.
Tate wasn’t the only returning contestant: Malkin and junior Rhea Ganta also competed in last year’s Bee.
Turkbey, who is currently taking Precalculus Honors, taught himself integration. Qi, who won the Bee as a sophomore in 2024, was also enrolled in Precalculus Honors at the time and had never taken a GDS calculus class, though he had taken a calculus course outside of school.
After the match, the Bee’s announcers—seniors Ares Osorio and Nate Zia—interviewed Tate, who apologized to any fans who were rooting for him: “I guess integration’s just not my thing,” he said.
Tate’s mother spoke to Rubinson after her son’s loss, saying she’d just have to wait for “GDS grandbabies” in order for someone in her family to win the Bee someday.
In the final matchup of the opening round, senior Sebastian Butts, the third seed, faced Ganta, the sixth seed. After going down 1–0, Butts correctly solved two consecutive integrals to complete a 2–1 comeback.
Malkin beat Dean 2–0 in the first semifinal matchup to continue his unprecedented run. Turkbey and Butts faced off next. Both competitors struggled early, each failing to correctly solve the first three integrals.
While the two worked on the fourth integral, Osorio told a joke to Zia—“What did one calculus book say to the other? Don’t bother me; I’ve got my own problems!”—causing both commentators to fall backwards out of their chairs laughing, dragging the tablecloth off the table and onto the ground. While Osorio and Zia recovered, Turkbey circled a correct answer to go up 1–0. Butts tied it up soon after, but Turkbey responded on the eighth integral of the matchup, answering correctly in under a minute to win 2–1 and cement his place in the championship.
Turkbey said the pressure of the competition was more difficult than solving the actual integrals. “Everybody in the Bee can tell you that when you’re on the side, looking at the questions, it’s infinitely easier than when you’re actually doing it,” he said. “You know there’s people behind you, you know there’s another guy trying to do it before you and you know that if you don’t see it you’ll feel embarrassed, or if you make a small mistake you’ll feel dumb.”
The final was an 11-round saga. Turkbey correctly solved the first integral, but Malkin tied it up in the fourth round after the previous two went unsolved. After another unsolved integral, Turkbey circled his answer in the sixth round in 15 seconds. As Malkin continued to work, Turkbey faced the judges—Qi, Wolin and senior Helena Oscherwitz—to wait for a ruling. When he realized he was incorrect, Turkbey grabbed his head and dropped to his knees. With nearly two minutes left to work uncontested, Malkin capitalized on the opportunity and delivered a correct solution with under ten seconds left, taking a 2–1 lead.
Five integrals then passed without a correct answer from either contestant. On the sixth, Malkin circled an answer after only ten seconds and placed the noise-canceling headphones competitors had worn throughout the night atop his whiteboard, pacing while he waited to see whether his integral was correct. After some brief deliberation, the judges declared Malkin this year’s Grand Integrator. Upon hearing the announcement, Malkin thrust his hands into the air and walked into the crowd as the band played Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the U.S.A.”
Malkin told the Bit he originally didn’t plan on competing and wanted to commentate, but he changed his mind in order to “live out my senior year and have some fun.”
Malkin said he thought his previous experience competing in the Bee helped him succeed. “When we solve math, typically we’re in the comfort of our math class, we have whatever time allotted, but up here you’re in front of all your friends and you have to quickly solve something on your feet,” he said. “It’s a crazy feeling, and I think I definitely benefited from being here last year.”
Wolin said a goal of the event is to make math more accessible and engaging for the school community. “Math often gets a bad rap as being boring or nerdy,” Wolin said. “We want to show that it can be tons of fun.”
Jacob Blane and Aidyn Jafarov contributed reporting.
CORRECTION (April 7 at 8:21 p.m.): A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the U.S.A.” was played over the Forum’s loudspeakers as a recording. The song was actually played by the student band.